Snape's Daughter
by THD
Summary: AU Snape had a daughter, raised as a muggleborn, but all children of death eaters belong to the Dark Lord. What happens when LV finds out? How will her life within Slytherin change? What does HG have to do with it? And what is Lilly Potter doing alive?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 His End**

He lay on the floor, awaiting the end. He had been tortured for hours, days perhaps, and still he knew the end was coming. He was a traitor to the cause. He had been found out. He knew that trying to protect the order members, whilst still appearing to help his fellow death eaters was dangerous, but he couldn't stand there and watch her die. That had been his downfall. His fellow death eaters had called for backup, and he had apparated her away. When he had returned to the manor, he had barely gotten two steps inside when the first curse had hit him. "Crucio!"

Unprepared, he had fallen to the floor in the foyer, where he was tortured numerous times. Then they had dragged him to this room, where they had continued his punishment. The room he knew he would meet his end in. The door opened. All he could see through his swollen eyes was a swirl of black heading towards him, but he didn't need to see to know who this was. This was the one who would end him.

"Up. Get up." The high pitched, cold voice sneered at him. He couldn't have obeyed, even if he wanted to. Magic swirled around him, and he felt himself lifted into a standing position. "I am very disappointed in you. I didn't want to do this, but you have given me no choice." The injured man smiled at these words. The other raised his wand, preparing to utter the words that would end him, but faltered upon seeing his smile. "What are you smiling about? There is no escape from this." The injured man inhaled, looked into the bright red eyes of his captor, smiled again and whispered "Finally, she will know the truth."

"Nice try, but you cannot fool the dark lord into sparing you, traitor. AVADA KEDAVRA!" A green jet issued from the wand, and the injured man fell to the floor once again. As the self titled dark lord walked out of the room in disgust, the light left the dark eyes of the greatest spy the Order of the Phoenix had ever had. Severus Snape was dead.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Since I seem to have forgotten to this at the start of the last chapter...

Disclaimer (covers entire story) : I (sadly) do not own Harry Potter. JKR and WB have that prestigious honour. I simply add my own spin to the characters within the HP universe. Anything you recognise is not mine, anything you don't is mine, so please don't sue me.

Reviews are always welcome, and I will try to reply to all of them, however there are no promises. Please keep in mind this is my first fanfic, so CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome, FLAMES are not. If you are going to criticize, please keep it aimed at the work. I am also open to suggestions for the story.

The first few chapters will be rather short, as they will be used to set up the majority of the plot. They will (hopefully) get longer as the story progresses, but once again no promises. THERE WILL BE NO APOLOGIES FOR CLIFFHANGERS! They are an (occasionally) necessary part of creative writing. *ducks head as barrage of assorted fruit flies at monitor* Sorry.

**Chapter 2 Two Letters**

For six years, she had been the oddball. The weird one. The only Slytherin who would refuse to use her house to give her anything she wanted. She would sit on her own, in the dark, dank, cold Slytherin common room wishing the sorting hat had placed her anywhere else. She had endured the teasing, name calling, sneers and stares of her fellow house mates. She had endured much of the same from the students in the other houses, too. She couldn't really blame the latter for their behavior. After all, most of them had endured the same, or worse, from any number of Slytherins.

She sighed, shaking her head to clear the unpleasant thoughts. It wasn't that she wanted to be like her house mates, or even the other students, for that matter. She just wanted somewhere to belong. She had gotten two letters that morning. The first, from Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, came as no surprise to her. She had only returned home after finishing her sixth year there just two weeks ago, however she knew that the headmaster always sent her letter earlier than everyone else's' simply because she, unlike every other student, lived halfway around the world from the school in question. She had thought it odd that she was attending a school so far from her home, however the headmaster had assured her that the thousand year old enchanted parchment, which showed the names of all those who had magical abilities and were supposed to attend Hogwarts, had never been wrong. She looked down at the letter, and the object which had accompanied it – a head girl's badge. She simply couldn't understand why the headmaster would choose her. Sure, she had some of the best grades the school had ever seen, sure she had not one single blemish to marr her record, but she was, well meek. She couldn't possibly enforce the rules of Hogwarts. She had thought that had been proven when she had become a prefect. She had given out only one detention, and even then it had only been because one of the boys had been sent to the hospital wing, and had remained there for a week. She sighed once more, "Oh well, only one more year. The only way it'll get worse is if my house mates find out that I'm a filthy mudblood." She turned her attention to the other letter. It had remained unopened on her desk, due to her habit of reminiscing every time she received her Hogwarts' letter. She resigned herself to opening it, and grabbed the letter opener. She pulled out what appeared to be very expensive parchment, and began to read.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I wasn't going to upload quite so soon, but because of the response i got (and a much appreciated enthusiastic review from Dark Neko 4000, thank you) I have decided to upload a couple more chapters. enjoy, and please r&r. Tao.

**Chapter 3 Snape Is Dead**

_Dear Ms Harkham_

_It is my sad duty to inform you that Mr Severus Snape has recently died. I am unaware of your relationship with him, however the instructions he left me clearly state that I am to contact you upon his death, and invite you to my offices. I have also been instructed by the deceased to ask that you bring with you anything you will require for an extended stay. How long this will be, I cannot say. This letter is a portkey, which will activate when you say 'portus' (you will not need to use your wand). This will transport you directly to my offices, where all of your questions will be answered. I hope to see you soon._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Barlow McDonague_

She read, and re-read the letter several times before it truly sunk in. Potions master and Slytherin head of house, Severus Snape was dead. To say that she would grieve for him wouldn't be all that far from the truth. The snarky potions master had been one of the few people within Hogwarts who had shown her kindness. She sat for a while, allowing the news to sink in before starting to pack her trunk. She had made up her mind. She was going. The thought that this could be a trap had never even entered her mind.

The next day, with her trunk packed and shrunk, then placed in her pocket (she was already seventeen) she took the letter in hand and uttered 'portus'. She felt a tug behind her bellybutton as she was whisked away to the offices of Mr Barlow McDonague.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 A Secret Revealed**

She arrivedin what appeared to be a reception area, decorated tastefully in blue and silver. "Ms Harkham, I presume?" She turned to see a woman, who almost instantly reminded her of professor McGonagall, looking at her with undisguised interest. "Y-yes?"

"Right this way, Mr McDonague's been expecting you." She followed the woman down a carpeted corridor, not really taking note of anything. The woman opened a set of double hardwood doors at the end of the hall, and motioned with her hand to go in. Hesitating only slightly, she entered the office, but jumped as the woman closed the doors behind her. "No need to be frightened, dear. I apologize for all the secrecy, however I assure you that you are quite safe, and that all of your questions will be answered." She turned towards the speaker, an elderly man, who was pointing towards a rather large chair in front of a blackwood desk. "Please take a seat. I have all the paperwork here already." She walked over and sat down in the chair he had indicated, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry, Mr McDonague, but I'm afraid I don't quite understand why I'm here." She took a deep breath, and decided that being straightforward was the best approach in a situation like this. "You see, Severus Snape and I were only a teacher and student, and I don't see how that could possibly..."

"Ms Harkham," he began, cutting her off. "I can assure you that all of your answers are contained within these." He picked up two pieces of parchment from his desk, handing one to her and holding up the other. He began to read...

_I, Severus Snape, upon my death leave to my beloved friends, absolutely nothing. Before you all cry in outrage, let me continue. I have a daughter, who is currently attending Hogwarts. I was unaware that she even existed until halfway through her sixth year. I am leaving everything to her. She is a brilliant young woman, and it is my wish to provide for her as much as I can in material objects, as it is unrealistic for me to have any sort of father-daughter relationship with her at such a late stage in her life. She doesn't need a father, yet I find myself wanting to provide her with something. I ask all of you not to attempt to harass or intimidate her into giving you anything, or selling anything. She is a strong young woman, even if she doesn't yet know it, and I am quite sure that you will not get the outcome you seek if you try. The only other person who is to get anything out of my death, is my godson. Draco, your inheritance is contained within my house. Go to my study. There you will find a letter which will tell you what you are to receive from me. Keep in mind, however, that this inheritance cannot be removed from my home. I hope that you will be understanding of this, as to try to remove it would result in severe consequences. This is my last will and testament. Severus Snape._

"I believe there is more in that letter you hold."

"H-he was my father?"

"Yes, it would seem so."

"And he left me EVERYTHING?"

"Yes. Now, to the reason I asked you to bring enough for an extended stay. Mr Snape's will, which you just heard, is to be read later today. This," he said, holding out a golden key, " is the key to your new home. The servants there will make you comfortable, I'm sure."

"T-thank you, Mr McDonague."

"It's no problem, I assure you, Ms Harkham. I'm certain I will see you again." he led her out to the reception area, where he gave her a small brass statue. "this is another portkey, which will take you to your new home. Goodbye, Ms Harkham, and take care."

"Thank you." She took hold of the statue, and for the second time that day, felt the tug behind her bellybutton.

As she disappeared from the reception area, Barlow McDonague turned to his receptionist. "Tell no-one about her. She was never here."

"Yes, Mr McDonague."

"Oh, and prepare the large conference room."

"Right away, Mr McDonague." He sighed as he turned and walked back to his office. This was going to be a long day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 The Will of Severus Snape**

They gathered in the conference room of one of the most prestigious and sought after solicitors in the British wizarding world, and patiently waited for him to arrive and start reading the will of the recently deceased Severus Snape. All of them were pureblooded, all of them were 'friends' of Snape's, and all of them were certain they were going to receive something of great value from his estate. He was, although very few outside of this rather select group knew it, the richest pureblood around. His family, unlike many other pureblooded families that could also trace their line back to the time of the founders, had refused to squander their fortune. If a member of the Snape family had refused to support themselves, then they were disowned, thus ensuring there was no one squandering the family fortune. Only one man in the room knew exactly how Severus Snape had managed to make his already rather vast fortune even larger. That man was the one whom Severus had surpassed in fortune only a few short years ago – Lucius Malfoy. He was sitting in one of the larger and more comfortable chairs in the conference room, with a trademark Malfoy smirk on his face. He had assured himself that only his family would be getting Snape's fortune. He had been there when Snape had re-written his will, right after his fortune had surpassed the Malfoy's, right after his mother – his last living relative – had died. He had written that everything was to go to the Malfoy family, with half of his fortune to go into a trust for Draco. Inwardly, he berated himself for showing any sign of pleasure at what was supposed to be a sombre occasion. Shaking himself, he readjusted his face into a cold mask, and prepared himself for the outrage that was going to come his way. He chanced a glance at his wife and son, sitting to either side of him. His wife was shedding silent tears- she had truly cared for the man. His son seemed tense, but his face was a mask, just like his own- devoid of emotion. Lucius knew, however, that his son was grieving for the godfather he had grown to love. Severus had always taken care of Draco, watching over him, gently guiding him, and even though he had betrayed the cause, Lucius was grateful for that. The solicitor, Mr Barlow McDonague, walked into the room, and a hush fell over the crowd that was gathered. Lucius took this opportunity to look over the others, noting the Zabini's sitting on the opposite side of the room, the Lestranges sitting close to the door, the Crabbe's and Goyle's sitting together in the center of the room. Death eaters, all of them. Severus Snape did keep quite odd company. Just then, the door opened, and the most unlikely people entered the room – Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, with the latter looking absolutely devastated. They took the seats closest to the desk, and McDonague cleared his throat. "Well, now that we are all present, I shall start the proceedings. We are here today for the reading and acknowledgment of the recently deceased Severus Snape's last will and testament. He himself asked for each and every one of you to be present today." he picked up a piece of parchment, and for the second time that day, began to read...

_I, Severus Snape, upon my death leave to my beloved friends, absolutely nothing. _

At these words, there was an outcry from all in the room, except the last two to arrive. Lucius chanced a glance at Dumbledore, and noted a wry smile on the older man's face. "Please, please settle down, and let me continue. There is more." McDonague practically shouted over the ruckus, trying to regain some semblance of normality. Everyone quieted. "Thank you," he said, "Now let me continue," He once again raised the parchment, which he had dropped on his desk at the start of the ruckus.

_Before you all cry in outrage, let me continue. I have a daughter, who is currently attending Hogwarts. I was unaware that she even existed until halfway through her sixth year. I am leaving everything to her. She is a brilliant young woman, and it is my wish to provide for her as much as I can in material objects, as it is unrealistic for me to have any sort of father-daughter relationship with her at such a late stage in her life. She doesn't need a father, yet I find myself wanting to provide her with something. I ask all of you not to attempt to harass or intimidate her into giving you anything, or selling anything. She is a strong young woman, even if she doesn't yet know it, and I am quite sure that you will not get the outcome you seek if you try. _

Once again, there were cries of outrage, and quite a few were questioning their surrounding 'friends' as to who this daughter could be. Mr McDonague simply stood, an waited for the furor to die down, before continuing to read.

_The only other person who is to get anything out of my death, is my godson. Draco, your inheritance is contained within my house. Go to my study. There you will find a letter which will tell you what you are to receive from me. Keep in mind, however, that this inheritance cannot be removed from my home. I hope that you will be understanding of this, as to try to remove it would result in severe consequences. This is my last will and testament. Severus Snape._

Silence followed, with most in the room in shock. Lucius once again looked at Dumbledore, and grew furious when he realised that the man was not at all surprised by this. He grabbed his wife, motioned to his son, and stormed from the room before anyone even realised he was gone. "Father, where are we going?" Lucius turned to his son, grabbed his arm and said the first thing that came to mind. "We are going to get you your inheritance, boy." And with that, the Malfoy family disapparated from the reception area of Mr McDonague's offices.

While the masses were gathering at Mr McDonague's office for the 'official' reading of Severus Snape's will, his daughter was sitting on a chair in what she had been told was the sunroom of Snape manor, letter in one hand, and a journal in the other. Upon her arrival, a rather imposing man had taken her coat and trunk, introduced himself as William, and told her that she needn't worry about a thing, everything is being taken care of, and that there was a book awaiting her in the sunroom, third door on her right. When she first walked into the room, she was surprised by just how inviting it was. Tastefully decorated and furnished to make the most of the natural light let in by the huge bay windows, it was comforting, and not at all what she had expected. It seemed homely. She walked to the large recliner beside the bay windows, and sat down, looking out of the window at the sun, which was by now high in the sky. She thought it must've been about midday, and heard her stomach rumble. She had just decided to go looking for something to eat, when the door opened, and William walked in with a tray of sandwiches. "Thought you might be hungry, mistress."

"Please, don't call me that. I'm no 'mistress'."

"Well, what would you like me to call you?"

"I'm Genevieve, Genni for short."

"Alright then, Miss Genevieve,"

"Ugh! That sounds so bad, doesn't it? How about Miss Genni?"

"Of course, so what would you like to drink, Miss Genni?"

"Um, some tea?"

"No problem. I'll be back with it shortly. White with two?"

"White with three, actually. Thank you, William."

"It's my pleasure, Miss Genni." He placed the tray of sandwiches on the coffee table, then headed towards the door, but when he got there, he turned around. "Miss Genni?"

"Yes, William?"

"I think that book on the table is waiting to be read, ma'am." With that, he turned and shut the door, his footsteps fading away quickly, muffled by the carpet in the hallway. She turned to the table, and taking one of the sandwiches (ham, cheese and tomato) in hand, opened the piece of parchment she had gotten at the solicitors, and began to read.

AN: *ducks flying fruit* I know, I know. However you will just have to wait for the next chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: WOW! i seem to be on a roll when it comes to uploading chapters, AND as i said in chapter 2's AN; they're getting longer! Yay for me! As always, reviews are welcomed, appreciated and I will attempt to reply to any I receive. A special shout out to 'the sweet smelling one' for your much appreciated review. Enjoy!

**Chapter 6 You Can't Be The One**

_To my daughter_

_If you are reading this, then I am no longer living. I can only hope that I died trying to do the right thing. Knowing myself as well as I do, I am fairly certain that I died either trying to save you, or because I was successful in doing so. I hope that finding out the truth hasn't affected you too badly. I am fairly certain that you noticed how much harder I have been on you since the night you stood up to me in the common room. I know that since then, I haven't made your life at Hogwarts easy. Know that it is not in my nature to be overly kind to anyone, and that I have only been as harsh on you as I was because of the potential you possess. I saw it in you that night... you have backbone. You can stand up for yourself, and you will, even if you don't believe it's possible for that to happen. It was that very night that I found out you are my daughter. You must be wondering what I've thought of you since then. The book on the sunroom coffee table will answer these questions. It is my journal, one which I have kept every day since, and has all of my observations of you. For now though, I would like to answer the nagging question you must have of why I have not known about you, or said anything to you about this until now. The answer lies with your mother. She and I had a brief romance, and you are the result. I will not lie to you... I did not love your mother, though I did care about her deeply. I became involved in the dark arts, and she left, fearing for both her safety and yours. I have since seen the error of my ways, but it is far too late for me to be any kind of father to you. Your mother never told me she was pregnant, probably in fear of my reaction, or of what growing up surrounded by the dark arts would do to you. My family is an old, pureblood family, which can be traced back to the time of the Hogwarts founders. As is your mother's family. You see, your mother is not a muggle, as you probably think. She is a squib, the only squib in her families recorded history. You are not in fact a muggle born, but a pureblood. Probably the purest pureblood around. I leave with you the hope that somehow you will not make my mistakes. I will not say that I love you, as I do not really know you, however I have a great respect for you, and I know that you will do great things with your life._

_Your father,_

_Severus Snape_

_P.S. Draco and his family will probably be arriving the same day you read this. Ask William to take him to the study._

_I am fairly certain that you noticed how much harder I have been on you since the night you stood up to me in the common room. _

She focused on this line, allowing her mind to wander to the memory of that night. She had shocked everyone, fourth year up, in Slytherin, Snape, Dumbledore and especially herself that night. A smile graced her face as the memory came over her...

**She was in the Slytherin common room, when Professor Snape came in, and told the first through third years to go to their dorm rooms, and stay there. She was sitting in a corner, near the staircase that led to the girl's dorms, in a rather large armchair. One of the older boys asked what was going on, as the first to third year girls stalked past her, headed to their beds. "The headmaster wants to speak to you about the attacks on the younger students." Everyone knew that he meant the **_**other **_**students, since none of the Slytherin students had been attacked. Everyone in the school knew it was the older Slytherins that were responsible, but there was no evidence. She closed the book she was reading just as Professor Dumbledore entered the common room. She was out of the chair and at the bottom of the stairs when Snape called out to her. "Ms Harkham, where exactly do you think you're going?" **

"**I'm going up to my dorm room, sir." **

"**What makes you think you can do that?" She didn't know what came over her, but something about the way he'd said it made her snap. "Because we all know exactly what this is about, **_**sir. **_**And since everyone here knows that I'm too meek to even think about attacking another student, I don't see how this conversation could possibly be relevant to me. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going up to my bed." Every student present had looked at her in awe, Professor Dumbledore looked amused, and Snape looked furious. She stalked upstairs, and laid on her bed, continuing to read her book. Some time later, Milicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson came up, and told her that Dumbledore had requested her presence. She put down her book, ran her fingers through her hair, then proceeded downstairs to 'face the music'. As she left the dorm room, she heard Milicent say "That one's crazy." and Pansy reply "I know, even **_**I**_** wouldn't talk like **_**that**_** to Snape." Dumbledore was waiting at the entrance for her. They walked in silence to the gargoyle that guarded the head's office. Dumbledore said the password (Fizzing Whizzbees) and they went up. When they entered, Dumbledore sat behind his desk, offering her a lemon drop (which she declined), and motioned for her to sit. He folded his hands, and regarded her silently through his half-moon spectacles, seemingly content to let her sweat. Not wanting to have to look into those piercing blue eyes, she instead surveyed the room full of knickknacks, her eyes finally coming to rest on a rather sickly looking bird on a perch next to the headmaster's desk. Without warning, the bird caught fire. She sat back in the chair, watching the ashes. Dumbledore leaned forward, and finally spoke. "Why weren't you concerned when he caught fire?" Instead of answering, she got up, walked over to the perch, and began to brush the ashes off of the small bird contained within them. When she was satisfied the bird was clean, she returned to her seat, and said "He's a phoenix. They catch fire when it is time for them to die, and are reborn from the ashes. He wasn't looking too good, so it wasn't really that much of a surprise, sir." Dumbledore sat back, once again regarding her in silence. "Most people are quite shocked when that happens. Now, to business. Although I agree with your sentiments, you really shouldn't speak to your Professors the way that you spoke to Professor Snape earlier this evening. You don't normally act this way, so I must ask what would make you do such a thing." **

"**I don't quite know, sir. I've always wondered why I'm in Slytherin. I'm nothing like the others. I just don't know where I belong, if anywhere." At some point during this statement, she had begun to cry. She tried to hide this fact from Dumbledore, however she was unaware of the other person who was watching. "Might I suggest that the reason you are in Slytherin is because you have backbone, but don't often show it." Professor Snape said, appearing from behind what appeared to be a curtain covering a doorway. "P-Professor?" **

"**You have more backbone than you give yourself credit for. You're exceptionally bright, think well on your feet, and have the ability to intimidate almost anyone, though you don't often show any of these things." Snape sat down in the seat next to hers after his little speech. "I quite agree with Professor Snape, Ms Harkham." She looked from Snape to Dumbledore in confusion. "I-I still don't un-unders-stand what you mean." Dumbledore removed his glasses, sighed and sat back in his chair. "In short, you have all the qualities Slytherin himself admired, but your unwillingness to use them continuously makes you more of a threat then most. You are what I like to call the hidden ace." **

"**Sir?" **

"**You are capable of winning the game not because you are the best card, although you truly are; you are capable of winning the game because you are underestimated. That is what makes you Slytherin, my dear." **

"**T-Thank you, sir." **

"**Now, since you don't normally act this way, I believe that no punishment shall be given. You may return to your dorm room, Ms Harkham." As she walked out of the headmaster's office, she could hardly believe what he had said. Her, a hidden ace? Dumbledore had finally gone senile. She laughed to herself all the way back to her dorm room.**

She sighed, and the smile faded from her face, as she came back to the present. She finished the sandwich, and had just picked up the journal, when William entered the room carrying her tea, with a look on his face that she couldn't decipher. He placed her tea on the table then said the words she wasn't yet ready to hear... "Miss Genni, there are two Mr Malfoy's and a Mrs Malfoy at the door. What would you like me to do?" She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to see them. "Show them in, William."

"Yes, miss"

She returned her gaze to the book, and a few minutes later she was brought quite suddenly out of her reverie by a startled voice exclaiming "You can't be the one!" She turned, not quite prepared to face the owner of that voice, but knowing that she still had to. She turned quite gracefully, placing the journal on the table, and stood to greet the one Slytherin who had gone out of their way to make her life at Hogwarts unbearable. Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorway, flanked by his mother and father, with a look of shock gracing his normally unreadable face.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I thought it would be kind of me to update again rather quickly. Also, I am looking for a beta; preferably one who doesn't mind the rather daunting task of vocalizing any ideas they may have about the plot. Anyone interested? As always, please r&r. Enjoy!

**Chapter 7 A Little Backbone**

"Y-you!" Draco Malfoy's face was a mix of shock and anger. She thought to herself that in his position, she wold probably be the same. She felt a little unsure as to what she should do, until her father's words from that night in Dumbledore's office came back to her...

"**Might I suggest that the reason you are in Slytherin is because you have backbone, but don't often show it." **

Mentally strapping some steel to her backbone, she put the kindest smile possible in present company on her face, stood and invited the three Malfoy's into the sunroom with a sweep of her hand. "Ah, the Malfoy family, such an honor. I've been expecting you. Please, come in and take a seat." Draco, stunned by this new and improved Genevieve, simply stood still, his mouth open, until his father gave him a slight whack up the back of his head. "Draco, the _lady_ has invited us into her home. Don't just stand there like a fool." He sounded quite harsh, and Draco quickly snapped out of his trance, and proceeded to one of the more comfortable lounges. "Harkham." He acknowledged her with the slightest nod of her head. 'Fine,' she thought to herself. 'We'll see how he likes this.' "Ah, Draco. So_ nice _tosee you again. I hope you're well?" He looked up at her from his seat, shock once again written all over his face. She smiled, grateful that her ploy had worked, but upon seeing this, he put on his best Malfoy smirk, and said "Just fine, _dear._" She turned, blushing slightly from the endearment, to greet the two older Malfoys. "Ah, and Mr and Mrs Malfoy. Such a pleasure, such an honor, to meet you both at last." Narcissa gave her a small smile, and proceeded to the chair next to her son, Lucius however, approached her, took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, patented smirk on his face the entire time. As he let go of her hand, he purred "No, Ms _Snape, _I can assure you that the pleasure is completely ours." He made his way over to another chair, next to his wife, which Genni was quite sure hadn't been there before. She looked over to William, who was still standing in the doorway, and he gave her a quick smile, which she returned. "Ah William, refreshments for our guests please, and I'll need you to show young Mr Malfoy to my father's study when he's ready."

"Yes, Miss Genevieve, of course." She almost shuddered at his choice of title, however he chose just that moment to wink at her, before walking away. Smiling internally, and shaking her head, she made her way over to the seat she had previously occupied. After an awkward silence, William returned with a tray of tea, coffee and what appeared to be whiskey. When he had tended to everyone, he left, and silence descended once more. Genni sipped her tea, content to let the silence stretch, but Draco apparently had other ideas. "So, Harkham," he began, a smirk on his face, "it seems that you are much more than I first thought."

"Draco." Lucius said, in a tone which told the younger Malfoy to abandon this particular line of questioning. The tension in the air was palpable, and Genni decided to do something about it. Problem was, there was only one thing she could think of to ease that tension – continuing the conversation Draco had started. "It's quite alright, Mr Malfoy. I'm sure that your son is just curious. After all, my father was his godfather." She turned towards Draco, refusing to back down. "Yes Draco, I am much more than we _all_ thought. I was unaware of the fact that Severus Snape was my father until this morning."

"This morning? You didn't know until this morning?"

"Yes, that's right, this morning. I received a letter from his solicitor yesterday, informing me that he had passed away, and that I was required to attend his offices. When I arrived there this morning, the will was read, and I was given a letter telling me about my being his daughter, and him leaving me everything." At this, Draco raised his eyebrows, and Lucius shifted in his seat. "Well, I say everything, but really, it's everything except for your inheritance, of course. Speaking of which, I'm certain you would like to know what it is your godfather left you, so if you're ready we'll go to his study."

"We?" Draco seemed nervous.

"Yes we. William?" she sung out, hoping to get the Malfoys out of her home as soon as possible. William appeared at the doorway rather quickly, and Genni was certain that he had been hanging around the sunroom, waiting for her to call out. "Yes, Miss Genevieve?"

"The Malfoys and I would like to go to my father's study."

"Of course, miss. I will ensure that refreshments for three will be brought to the sitting room, adjacent to his study. This way."

As William led the way, through the maze of passageways to the study, Genni allowed herself to get lost in thought. She had grabbed the journal before leaving the sunroom, and was looking forward to reading it while she waited for Draco to finish up in the study. They reached the study, and William once again disappeared. She opened the sitting room door, and stood aside, allowing the two older Malfoys to enter. She then turned to Draco, who was standing with his hand on the doorknob of her father's study. She walked over to him, and sensing he needed encouragement, placed a hand on his shoulder, the other on the doorknob, then opened the door. He looked at her, his eyes wary but thankful, and she pushed him through the door and shut it behind him. Taking a deep breath, she returned to the opposite doorway, and entered the sitting room for what was surely going to be the most uncomfortable wait in history. She didn't notice Narcissa's eyes watching her as she had placed her hands on Draco in support. She also didn't notice the small smile that briefly graced Narcissa's grief stricken face just as she entered the sitting room.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: didn't turn out quite how I wanted, but it was 3am, and I needed sleep, then my muse decided to jump ahead in the story. Sorry :-/ Anyway, as always, please r&r!

**Chapter 8 You Are Staying Here**

'What _is _Draco doing in there?' It was the question Genni had been asking herself for at least the last hour. She had already finished reading her father's journal, a smile often gracing her face, turning it from plain to beautiful as she read. She had discovered just how much potential her father had thought she had, and his observations of her, although absurd in her opinion, would seem quite accurate to any outside who bothered to pay attention to her. He was flattering in his descriptions of her, particularly within his own class, for which she was grateful. He had been honest when he had said that it wasn't in his nature to show kindness, but his respect for her practically leapt off the pages, and the thought that perhaps he had cared for her more than he would ever admit had passed through her mind more than once during the past few hours. The two Malfoys had remained silent throughout the wait, for which she was grateful.

She put the journal on the small table next to her seat and stood up, stretching her back which was rather cramped from the hours of sitting hunched over. As she did this, Lucius Malfoy looked up at her, and decided that this would be the perfect time to have the discussion he had originally come here for. "Ms Snape?"

She turned to face the man, and noted the 'I'm a hunter and she is my prey' look in his eyes almost immediately. This was not going to be good. "Yes, Mr Malfoy?"

"I was wondering if we could have a talk about your inheritance."

'Ah,' she thought to herself, 'here it comes.' "Of course, Mr Malfoy." She, unknown to Lucius, had expected this from the moment he had entered her home, and so had prepared herself for an argument. She thought she had a reasonable explanation as to why she should keep her inheritance, for any argument he could throw at her. She was wrong.

"It's about this house, actually. I had thought that perhaps being here would be, how shall I say this, _uncomfortable_ for you, since you didn't know Severus. I would be more than willing to pay any price, and take it off of your hands." This, she had not been expecting, however that backbone her father had spoken of, and her ability to think well on her feet kicked in, and she decided to refute his reasoning, and politely refuse his offer at the same time.

"Mr Malfoy, while I agree with you entirely that I did not know my father, and the idea of living here is a little _uncomfortable_," she paused to ensure that she was still being polite, and Lucius allowed the smallest smirk to appear on his face. Apparently he thought she was going to agree. He was, of course, mistaken. "the only way I can hope to learn anything about him, is by remaining here. His home seems to me to be the best place to find out what kind of man my father was." Lucius started to sneer, and opened his mouth to try to argue, however Genni cut him off before he could even begin. "Besides, my father _wanted_ me to have this place," she said, gesturing around with her hand to indicate the manor, " and so _I_ will honor his wishes. I suggest _you_ do the same."

Lucius' face twisted in anger, and he stood up rather quickly. Neither of them noticed that Draco was standing in the now open doorway of the study, listening to everything. " _I_," he began, fist clenching at his sides, " was the closest friend Severus Snape _ever_ had._ I _would have more use for his home than _you _ever will. And if you don't sell me this house, _I_ will make _your_ life a LIVING HELL, until you give in."

She stood there in shock, at his words. 'No, not his words, his _threat_. He just _threatened_ me.' At this thought, unknown to either Genni or Lucius, anger began to rise inside her, beginning to drown out her natural urge to run from conflict. As she stood there, staring at Lucius, that anger began bubbling, and after a few moments it threatened to boil over. She started to envision picking Lucius Malfoy up and bodily throwing him from her home. '_Her home'_. That thought finally kicked her brain into gear, and she realised that she needed to do something _now, _before the anger bubbling away inside her _did _boil over. She quickly decided that while _bodily_ throwing him out of her house would be going a bit too far, _verbally_ doing it would suffice.

"Mr Malfoy, I do not take kindly to threats or intimidation. I invited you into _my_ home, and I will now ask you to leave. Oh, and please keep in mind that there is no way in _hell_ I will ever sell you _my _home, the home _my_ father left _me_. Now get out, and never, _ever_ step foot on my property again!"

"Fine, Narcissa we're leaving!" Draco ducked back into the study, opening the door again once they had passed. When they reached the front door, and the Malfoys had stepped outside, Lucius turned back. "Ms _Snape_, keep in mind that there are other, more _permanent_ ways of me obtaining this house. I will be waiting." He turned back around, motioning for his wife to follow. Just as they reached the gate, Genni called out to him. "Mr _Malfoy_, I'll make sure I keep that in mind. Oh, Mrs Malfoy, _you_ are more than welcome in _my_ home any time." And with that she slammed the door on Lucius Malfoy, and returned to the sitting room. Draco smirked and returned to his task, shutting the door behind him. As she walked down the hall, she passed William, who smiled at her and said "Well done, Miss Genni, well done."

A few hours later, Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorway of the sitting room, watching Genni as she slept in one of the lounge chairs. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked- completely relaxed, stretched out, and with a half open book resting on her stomach. Without thinking, he walked over and swept a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes shot open, and panic filled her eyes. He stepped back as she shot out of the chair, sleep still clouding her judgment. Realization slowly dawned on her, and she looked at him in confusion. "What the hell were you doing?" she shouted angrily.

Draco, taken aback by her outburst, was suddenly unsure of himself. "I-I was just, um, moving a piece of hair that h-had fallen over your face. S-sorry?"

Genni couldn't believe her ears. Had Draco Malfoy just apologized? To _her_? "Oh, um, okay."

They regarded each other silently, him wishing he had sounded more sure of himself, her wishing she hadn't reacted that way. It was so very unlike her to speak that way to anyone, that she was starting to think that perhaps finding out that Severus Snape was her father had affected her more than she realised. The silence was broken once again by William, who cleared his throat. "Dinner will be being served shortly."

"Dinner?" Genni looked out to the sky, noting just how dark it was. "William, what time is it?"

"A little before midnight, miss. Normally dinner would have been served hours ago, however the staff thought it best to not disturb you or Mr Malfoy. Please follow me."

Dinner was quiet, and after they had finished, Draco stood to leave. The clock struck midnight, and Genni made up her mind. "William, could you make sure that a guest suite is prepared for Mr Malfoy? Thank you."

As William left to prepare the suite, Draco shifted from foot to foot, refusing to look at her. He opened his mouth as if to speak several times, but no words came out. Finally, after an agonizingly long and awkward silence, he spoke. "Um, Harkham. I- You, um, that is to say, um."

"Just spit it out, Malfoy."

"Um, I can go home, you know."

She looked at him, taking in his red, swollen eyes and haggard, tired appearance. "No, Draco. Look at you, you're in no state to be traveling home. Besides, it's far too late, so you're staying here." She noted how uncomfortable he seemed. "Just get some rest, and you can be on your way after breakfast."

He smiled at her then, not a smirk- a genuine smile, full of gratitude, and William reappeared in the doorway. "Miss Genni, Mr Malfoy, if you'll both follow me, I'll show you to your rooms."

"Miss Genni, huh?" Draco said under his breath as they followed William through the expansive manor to their rooms.

"Yes, Miss Genni." she snapped back, also under her breath. He smirked.

They remained silent all the way up three flights of stairs and through numerous corridors, until they finally reached a cul-de-sac of rooms.

"This is the east wing," William told them, "also known as the family wing. Your room, Mr Malfoy, is this one on the left." he indicated a redwood door. "And yours, Miss Genni, is the double doors up ahead. Goodnight." He said as he walked away, presumably to the servant's quarters.

"So," said Draco, "it seems our rooms are right beside one another." He smirked at her, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, so it would seem. Well, goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Miss _Genni_." He watched her as she walked to her doors. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she turned quickly. Draco was standing right behind her, and she hadn't even heard him move!

"What?" she snapped, more out of fright than anger.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" he asked, in a sickly-sweet voice, which she supposed made most girls swoon. She smiled at him, then opened one of her doors, took a step inside, then turned back around, still smiling. She leant forward, and when her lips were almost touching his cheek, she whispered in his ear "Kiss, kiss, Draco." she smirked as he sulked all the way back to his bedroom, waiting until he had opened his door to call out "Oh, Draco."

He turned quite quickly, an almost hopeful smile on his face. She felt just a moment of guilt before saying "Don't get any ideas about trying to visit me tonight, either." She smiled at him once more, before closing the door on his shocked face, and went to bed, laughing all the way.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: once again my muse decided to torture me by moving on with the story before I felt completely happy with the chapter, but it is still roughly what I had originally envisioned, and I have a sneaking suspicion that more about Draco's inheritance will appear later on in the story. As always, please r&r. Tao.

**Chapter 9 Draco's Inheritance**

Draco stood outside the door to his room for the night, staring in shock at the now closed door through which she had just disappeared. 'Hmm, Harkham sure has changed over the last couple of weeks.' he thought, 'I don't remember her being so confident before. I wonder what happened? It has to be more than just finding out that Sev was her father.'

He sighed, and taking one last look at her door, he turned and entered the room he would be staying in. Despite what Genevieve might think, he doubted he would be getting any rest tonight; he had far too much to think about, thanks to his inheritance from his godfather. He walked to the edge of the four-poster bed and sat down, not really paying any attention to the rest of the room. He felt drained, mentally and emotionally, and he wanted nothing more than to be at home, discussing what had happened in the study with his mother. He would never discuss such things with his father, especially after the outburst earlier. He took a moment to think on his mother; his father would be in a terrible mood, and he wasn't there to take the brunt of his father's anger, which would surface in a rather violent way after a few drinks. He sighed once more and lay back on the bed, sending out a prayer to merlin that his mother would be alright tonight. He closed his eyes, body and face relaxing; to an outside observer he looked peaceful, almost angelic. That peaceful face was only a ruse, however; within him, his emotions and thoughts were a maelstrom, violently whipping around his head and heart, threatening to destroy him from within. He focused his thoughts on the moments before he had entered his godfather's study. A small but genuine smile graced his handsome face as he remembered Harkham's small, delicate hand on his shoulder, the small smile she had given him before she had opened the door. She had offered him comfort and encouragement in those small gestures, something that his father hadn't thought to do, and wouldn't have allowed his mother to do. The smile fell from his face as he remembered what had happened next.

**He took a deep breath and entered the study. He closed his eyes, and turned to close the door. He leant his forehead against the wood, allowing it to cool him, tears streaming down his cheeks as the scent of his godfather assaulted him. After a few minutes, he silently cursed himself for allowing this to affect him so much. His godfather had been a traitor, and now he was dead. That was life in the Dark Lord's sphere of influence. No mercy was shown to traitors. He pushed away from the door and turned around, noting that the room was set up in a similar fashion to his private study at Hogwarts; it seemed that away from the scrutiny of the students, he preferred comfort. He approached the desk, almost waiting for Severus to jump out and berate him about invading his study. There was a roll of parchment on the desk. Picking it up, he noticed that it was sealed with the Prince and Snape families' combined seal. This would not normally have been unusual; it was tradition that when two pureblooded families joined, the head of the family would have a new family seal made which would incorporate the previous two seals into one combined seal. Severus however, had only ever used the Prince family seal. Draco frowned, trying to figure out why his godfather had chosen to use the combined seal this one time; it would have seemed to an outsider to be insignificant, however Draco knew better. "Details, Draco. Noticing details can be the difference between living and dying." The memory shook Draco, and he decided to ponder the meaning later. Sitting down in the large, comfortable chair behind the desk, he grabbed the silver letter opener and broke the seal. He felt magic in the air, and a breeze flowed through the room, shuffling papers and blowing his hair. After just a moment it stopped, unnerving Draco even further. That wind had been magical in origin. Shaking his head to clear suddenly ominous thoughts, he unrolled the parchment, and began to read.**

_Draco,_

_By unsealing this parchment you have activated the spell held within the seal. Do not fear, for although I was not fond of your father, (as you well know) I was always fond of you. The spell is a simple one, designed to prevent anyone from entering or leaving this room until you are done. This is to ensure your privacy, for which you will be grateful later._

_By now, you should have met my daughter, and recognized her as Genevieve Harkham. I ask that you not give her too hard a time, for she did nothing, except be born my daughter, to deserve such treatment. I would have said the same to your father, however I think we both know it would have fallen on deaf ears. _

_On to your inheritance. Material possessions, I am aware, mean little to you. You already own more things than any other at your age, and should the want or need for more arise, you are more than financially able to get them for yourself. So I have left you something far more meaningful, my godson. Memories. I have left you memories that I feel will be useful for you, or that I always wished to share with you, but didn't; for fear of your father finding out. I have also left another piece of parchment, asking my daughter to give you access to my personal library. Ask William to take you there after you speak to Genevieve. Contained within are my books on the art of magic. There are many tomes on Occlumency and Legillimency, as well as mastering the art of wandless magic. Read and learn Draco, for I fear you will have need of such skills. _

_Also contained within the memories I have left you, are many of the things I found myself doing under the command of the Dark Lord, and the memory of the night I became a Death Eater. I warn you now; these memories are extremely violent, however I feel it necessary to arm you with this knowledge as well, since your father appears to be grooming you to join the ranks._

_Last but not least, I leave you with this piece of advice; You can always allow others to make your choices for you, but it is always you who must live with the consequences._

_Take care of yourself, and your mother, Draco. _

_Uncle Sev._

Feeling drained, Draco lay down on the four poster, and with silent tears streaming down his face, and drifted off into a restless night's sleep. Sleep filled with nightmarish visions of himself, screaming in pain while the Dark Lord and his followers rejoiced, a comforting presence, and the comforting feel of a woman's hand on his shoulder; her eyes the same familiar shade of obsidian as Severus'.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Breakfast, Squibs and Plans**

The next morning, Genni awoke to the most unsettling feeling of something not quite being right. Then, quite suddenly, her brained kicked into gear and the memories of the day before came rushing back. Lost to the tidal wave of emotions the memories brought, Genni sat up in bed and did something she hadn't done since she was a small child; she cried. Wet, hot tears slid unhindered from beneath her semi-closed eyelids, dragging the sleep from her eyes along with them. She found herself lost in the swirl of emotions; grief , anger and disbelief being the most prominent. After a short while, which to Genni could have been days, William knocked on her door, and advised her that her guest was still asleep, and breakfast was being served. Calling out an almost unintelligible reply, she swiped her hands across her tear stained face, got out of the relatively unscathed bed, and headed to the adjoining bathroom to wash up.

Leaving the bathroom, amidst a cloud of steam and already resigned to having to wear her clothes from the day before, Genni was pleasantly surprised to find a set of finely made clothes on the bed. A mixture of clothes from both the wizarding and muggle worlds was awaiting her. Quickly deciding on comfort, she pulled on a pair of stonewashed jeans and a t-shirt, and made her way down the stairs, (which seemed more treacherous than what she remembered the night before) to get herself some breakfast. She didn't even realize that she had left the journal of Severus Snape on the edge of the large four poster.

As she stepped off the bottom of the staircase into the hallway, her foot twisted. As she realized her mistake, closed her eyes, and tried to prepare herself for the undoubtedly painful collision with the floor, she felt a hand grab her arm and spin her back toward the staircase. Her outstretched hand, with which she had hoped to somewhat lessen her impact with the rather hard floor, instead landed against something warm, followed closely by her torso. Wrapping her arms around this firm object -'firm, but definitely softer than the floor.' she thought to herself-, she fought to regain her balance. When she was finally able to get a firm footing on the deceptively narrow stair, she opened her eyes to the most disturbing sight; Draco, disheveled and half asleep had saved her from her otherwise inevitable fall, and in the process had wrapped his arms around her, bringing her rather close to him. So close in fact, that she could make out each of his eyelashes, which at this moment were half shielding his eyes from the morning light. Even more disturbing was the fact that her previously outstretched hand had somehow managed to come to rest at the nape of his neck; some of his platinum blonde hair caught around her fingers, as though she had been playing with it. Quickly disentangling herself from around him, she turned and practically ran the rest of the way to the dining room with her head down, in an attempt to hide the blush which had crept down her face and neck.

She was already seated, with William sitting a tray of assorted breakfast foods in front of her when Draco walked in. She felt, rather than saw, his eyes on the back of her neck, and her blush slightly returned. Hoping to keep her body's reaction both unnoticed and to a minimum, she turned to William and asked, "William, why is it that you're the only person I have seen?"

"I'm sorry miss?" William replied, while pouring her a cup of tea.

"You said last night that the staff didn't want to wake me. That implies there's more than just you on the staff, yet you're the only person I've seen. I'm just wondering why that is?"

"Well miss, my position is the only one which has constant contact with the family. The rest of the staff simply do their jobs, then go home to their families."

"I see." she paused, one hand resting on her chin. Draco sat across from her, looking with interest at the platter of food which had been placed before him. Selecting a piece of toast, he took a bite, then picked up a cup of black coffee and started to drink.

"William," Genni started, once again intent upon keeping herself distracted from a certain Slytherin who still hadn't taken his eyes from her for more than a moment, "has it always been that way?"

"With the staff, miss?" he replied, clearly at a loss as to what his new mistress would require of them.

"Yes, with the staff. Has it always been this way? And if it has, is there a reason why that is?"

"Yes, miss. The reason being that the Snape family has always hired squibs."

At this, Draco choked on his coffee, and Genni turned, looking at William with new-found interest.

"S-squibs? All of the staff are squibs?" Draco finally managed to choke out, sounding far more distressed than he appeared.

"Yes Mr Malfoy, squibs. There were, of course, some house elves that came with Mrs Snape from the Prince family when she came here, but as with all house elves, they died when their mistress did. The master at the time; your grandfather Miss Genni, didn't trust the house elves, so he refused to allow them to bond with his son. Therefor, when Mrs Snape passed on, her house elves went with her, so the only staff left are the squibs." William replied, stopping to pour Draco some more coffee before continuing. "Miss Genni, is there anything you'll be needing me to do today?"

Genni, halfway through a piece of toast when this question was asked, abruptly stopped eating, and looked at Draco, meeting his eyes for the first time that morning. "Draco," she began, not wanting to either upset the young man, who was clearly still exhausted, "will you be returning home after breakfast, or do you need more time?"

Draco thought for a moment. After a moment, a look of sheer panic crossed his face, before he settled it back into the usual disinterested mask. "If it's alright with you, I think I will return to the manor, however I will need to return." He passed a piece of parchment across the table to her, and noted the look of panic that graced her face just before she replied, "Of course, Draco. That's no problem. William, I am going to key Draco into the wards after breakfast, then I'll be leaving."

"Leaving Miss?"

"Yes, I need to speak to my mother about a couple of things. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but it will certainly be before school starts up again. Can you arrange for a message to be sent to Draco when I return, and have a room ready for him? It seems his inheritance is going to take more than just a day or two to sort through."

"Of course miss."

"Thank you William."

The rest of breakfast passed in silence, but Genni wasn't paying attention to the little food that she did manage to consume. Her eyes were focused on the now familiar cursive script on the piece of parchment Draco had handed to her. The piece of parchment that was going to make her life unbearable, especially if the events so far were anything to go by.

_Gennevieve,_

_I ask that you allow Draco access to my personal library. I fear that his father maybe making a mistake with him in regards to his future, and there are many books in there which will help save my godson's life. I know this is a lot to ask, but I sincerely hope you will agree. There is another side to Draco, which you probably have yet to see._

_Severus._

'Thanks a lot,' she thought. 'now I have to spend even more time with _him_.'

After Draco left, Genni went upstairs, grabbed her bag, and left, hoping that she would get some answers. She pulled out the first portkey from the previous day and crossed her fingers, hoping that her assumption was correct. Closing her eyes, she whispered "Portus" and felt the unsettling tug behind her belly button. Opening her eyes, she was once again home. Dropping the portkey on the nearest surface, she apparated to the one person who could give her the answers she was seeking about Severus Snape. She once again didn't realize that in her haste, she had left behind the journal which she had been unable to be separated from the day before...

AN: *ducks flying fruit* I know, I know *sigh* Oh well. Anyone pick up any clues from this chapter? As always, please r&r (even if it's only to tell me your theories on the clue)


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The World Turns Upside-Down**

Opening her eyes once more and taking deep breaths to settle after the second unsettling magical travel for that morning, Genni looked at the small cottage in which her mother lived. She started toward the front door, knowing from the smell of freshly baked bread wafting toward her from the back, that her mother had already been awake for several hours. After almost turning back several times, and managing to get herself rather worked up, she finally stood at the front door and knocked. She could hear muffled footsteps, and the sound of her mother's off-key humming settled her nerves a little. Half of Genni's life may have been turned upside-down, but she could count on her mother to never change. The door opened, and for just a moment, Genni took in the familiar and comforting image of her mother; dark brown hair, highlighted with streaks of naturally occurring red pulled into a loose plait, standing there in her over-sized fluffy blue robe and slippers, blue eyes filled with happiness. Then Genni simply couldn't breathe; her mother had practically jumped on her, and was squeezing the air out of her lungs with one of her bone-jarring hugs. "Mum, can't breathe." Genni managed to wheeze out, before her mother muttered an apology, and dragged her inside to the kitchen table.

"Mum, we need to talk." Genni started once she was seated, her nerves starting to come back full-force once more.

"Of course we need to talk!" her mother exclaimed rather loudly, while bustling around the small kitchen gathering cups, the teapot, plates, food and any other 'essentials' she could find. "Need to talk, rather obvious that," she muttered, ignorant of Genni's repeated attempts to get her attention. "been at that school for ten months; not one phone call, not one letter, nothing!" she kept pottering around the kitchen, muttering under her breath, completely oblivious to any of Genni's pleas to sit. Finally Genni, tired of seemingly being ignored, got up and grabbed her mother's hands, leading her to the table to sit, before taking the seat on the opposite side.

"Mum, calm down. I came here to talk about something important."

"Important? What is it Rose, dear?"

Genni internally cringed at the nick-name she had gotten when at the tender age of two, she had somehow managed to get herself so completely stuck in one of her mother's rose bushes that her mother had needed to remove all of her clothes to get her out. Genni had spent the next five years of her life being called 'Rose' at every opportunity, until she had finally asked _why _her mother called her Rose when her name was Gennevieve. After being told the story, she simply hated her nick-name with a passion.

"Well, it's about one of my professors, actually." she began, rather worried about just how bad the response would be.

"Come on then, spit it out." her mother said, in what she thought was an encouraging tone. It wasn't; in fact, it only served to make Genni's already highly-strung nerves worse.

"Um, well, you see... my head of house recently passed away, and.." Genni's nerves were starting to get the better of her, and her mother could quite easily see this, so she decided to jump in at this point, with what she thought was the most obvious problem. She was, of course, wrong.

"So you're worried about who your new head of house will be? Don't worry, dear. I'm sure everything will be fine. You know you worry too much, Gennevieve. Always did. Even as a small child, you were always worrying about things you aught not to have. Why I remember..."

"MUM!" Genni's shout finally broke through her mother's incorrect assumption, and with a confused look, she turned and said "Gennevieve, there's absolutely no reason to shout, I'm right here! Now what exactly is the problem?"

Slightly embarrassed, Genni replied in the quietest voice possible, "Hesaidhewasmyfather."

"What? Say that again?" her mother asked, paling slightly, as though she had heard correctly, but was hoping her ears were mistaken.

"I said," Genni began, fidgeting with her hands and refusing to look her mother in the eyes. "He said he was my father. It's not true, right?" As she finally looked up at her mother, all hopes that this had all been a mistake quickly vanished. Her mother had gone completely pale, shame and guilt fighting for dominance in her usually cheer-filled eyes. "Mum?" Genni asked, hoping that she would get a better response. Instead, her mother burst into tears. Somehow, Genni ended up on the other side of the table, holding her mother while the tears continued to pour down the older woman's face. 'This isn't right; the mother is supposed to comfort the daughter, not the other way round.' was the only thought that managed to break through the chaotic emotions that had taken over Genni's mind.

After three cups of tea, and quite a lot of coaxing from her daughter, the older woman finally settled down enough to speak. "Genni," she began in a voice filled with trepidation, "there's something I need to tell you. I didn't want to tell you this. I had hoped that there wouldn't be any need to, but since you already know about your father..." her voice trailed off, and Genni moved back towards the chair she had been sitting in; she had a feeling that she was going to need to sit down after hearing whatever her mother was preparing to day. She took the opportunity to study her mother's face. What she saw there terrified her beyond belief; her mother thought that she was never going to see her again after she said this. Whatever it was, it was bad.

"Genni, the professor you're talking about is Severus Snape, isn't it?"

"Yes." Once again the older woman's face fell. She started fidgeting with her teacup, then with a sigh, she said the words that would tear Genni's whole world apart...

"Genni, he is your father, but I'm not your mother."

As the older woman looked up, and Genni saw the truth in her eyes, something snapped. She opened her mouth and screamed "WHAT?" before falling to the floor in a dead feint, hitting her head on the edge of the chair on the way down. The older woman instinctively knew that she would need more than muggle means to help the young woman. She ran to her bedroom, grabbed an old pot labeled '_Grandmother's Ashes'_ and ran to the fireplace. Opening the pot, she grabbed a handful of the contents, threw them into the already lit hearth, stuck her head into the now green flames and called out the name of the one place she knew she could get the help that the young woman needed.

"Granger residence!"

AN: *ducks flying fruit* Come on! Major plot twist! Any ideas what's going on? (it's a little different from what you're probably thinking) Please r&r!


	12. Chapter 12

AN: my muse seems to be on a roll tonight! As always, please r&r! Tao.

**Chapter 12: The Granger Dilemma**

Katherine Granger had been spending her day off exactly the same way she spent her free time for ten months of every year; reading. Her daughter, Hermione, loved to read, and Katherine was fairly certain that the habit had been picked up from her; she hadn't seen her husband, Robert pick up a book since they had both passed their dentistry courses. She sighed, her book laying forgotten on her lap, as she thought back to just the day before. Her daughter had only been home for two weeks and had already started begging to go to her friend's house; Katherine was fairly certain that this Ronald boy her daughter kept talking about was her boyfriend, but Hermione kept denying it. They had simply wanted to spend some time with their daughter. Thanks to her magical abilities, they hardly ever saw her. She needed to be educated at a magical boarding school, so at the tender age of eleven, she had headed off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For ten months of every year, their daughter was at the school, learning how to control her magical abilities, and every time she had returned, her parents had listened with wonder at the stories she would tell them. This last time, they had finally realised the one thing they had somehow missed over the years; their little girl was gone. The shy, wide-eyed eleven year old had been replaced with a confident young woman. A young woman, they quickly realised, who was still their little girl deep inside. After a solid week of hearing her beg to go to her friends, they had finally given in; the delight on her face when they had finally said yes was enough to assure them that it had been the right decision. It had only taken their overly-organized little girl-come woman, half an hour to be packed and ready to leave for yet another year, so the next three hours while they waited for her friends had been spent relaxing next to the fire; both women with books in hand, Robert alternating between looking at their almost seventeen year old daughter, and shooting his wife looks ranging anywhere from guilt to sympathy. When the doorbell finally rang, Hermione had jumped up and shot to the door so quickly that all either of her parents could see was a blur of caramel-brown hair and a tangle of arms and legs. After a heartfelt goodbye, they had been alone again, wondering if, the next time they saw their daughter, they would be able to recognize her. Startled out of her reminiscing by a shout in the living room, Katherine headed inside to investigate.

In the living room, in the center of the now lit fireplace, was the head of a woman that Katherine Granger instantly recognized.

"Marian? What is it? What's wrong?"

The woman, Marian, was clearly distraught. There was only one thing Katherine could think of that would cause her to be this upset, and it didn't bode well for either of them.

"It's Genni. She..."

"She what?" Katherine asked, full-blown panic beginning to take hold.

"She found out about her father."

"So you told her!" Katherine screamed, the panic finally taking hold.

"Not everything! I only managed to tell her that I'm not her real mother, before she feinted. She hit her head on the way down. She's definitely not calm, and I need someone magical to take care of her. Is Hermione here?"

"No, no,no,no. This can't be happening. Not yet. Please, god, not yet."

"Kate! Snap out of it! Genni needs help!"

Marian's harsh tone, coupled with the equally harsh words, seemed to do the trick, as Kate's previously unfocused eyes cleared, and she brought her attention back to the problem at hand. "Right. I have a coin-thing Hermione left here, to contact her in an emergency. I guess this counts. I'll just use it. Grab Genni and come through."

As Kate left the room to grab the coin, Marian's head disappeared from the fireplace. It was quickly replaced with the bodies of two women, as Marian stepped through, brining Genni's still unconscious form with her. As the floo connection was closing, Kate returned, coin in hand.

"Put her on the couch. Someone should be here soon."

Placing Genni down on the couch, the two women sat and waited, each silently praying that their respective daughters wouldn't hate them when all was said and done.

Meanwhile, at 12 Grimmauld Place, Hermione Granger had just finished unpacking her belongings in the small room she and Ginny Weasley had shared for the last two summers. The Weasley family, minus Bill, (who was living with his wife) Charlie (who was still in Romania) and Percy (who had his own place, close to his job at the Ministry) had moved into Grimmauld Place during the summer between Hermione's fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts. Ginny and Hermione, being the only girls, had a room to themselves on the second floor of the Black family's ancestral home. Hermione was glad to be here, amongst her adopted family and friends. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy seeing her parents, just that they were muggle, so they were unable to talk to her on matters of magic. With the war against Voldemort starting to get worse, she felt that being away from her parents would be better for all of them; she wouldn't have to lie to her parents, since she hadn't ever told them anything about the magical world which might have caused them to worry, and them because without her there, her parents would be far less likely to be attacked by anyone supporting Voldemort's cause. She was sitting on the edge of the single bed admiring the view from the window of the park across the street, when something around her neck started to heat up. Grabbing the silver chain her parents had brought her when she first left for Hogwarts, she pulled it out of her green sweater until she could see the small coin which was hanging in the pace of a pendant. It was glowing red; the signal to tell her there was an emergency at her parent's house which could only mean one thing. Death Eaters. Panicking slightly, and wondering why they had chosen to attack when she wasn't there, Hermione bolted none too quietly down the narrow staircase and hallway. Having woken the ever-screaming portrait of Mrs Black, she didn't need to enter the kitchen; half of the residents of Grimmauld place had already filed out, determined to shut the portrait up, and berate whoever had woken her up.

"Hermione," began the voice of long-suffering werewolf, Professor Remus 'Mooney' Lupin.

"No time! Parents. Emergency. My house. Got to go!" came Hermione's reply, and she spun and took off. The crowd that had made their way out of the kitchen barely had time to yell out before they saw the front door open, and Hermione disappear.

"Damn she's fast. Anyone know where she went?" came the voice of Sirius Black, current owner of Grimmauld Place, godfather of the Boy-Who-Lived, and ex-convict. He had finally managed to get a pardon from the Ministry, after a squad of Aurors fighting a group of Death Eaters saw Peter Pettigrew just a few weeks ago. Pettigrew had managed to somehow stun one of the Aurors, and the Ministry had identified the magical signature of the stunner as belonging to Peter Pettigrew. Sirius had finally gotten a fair trial, with Veritaserum, and was cleared of all charges. Needless to say, Harry was ecstatic.

"She'd make a good Auror, moving that fast. She said her parents, so I'd start there." came the grizzled voice of Auror Alastor Moody.

The entire group, minus one Mrs Molly Weasley and 'the children', (Harry, Ron and Ginny) all headed out the front door, and apparated en-mass to the Granger residence.

On arrival at her parent's house, Hermione granger immediately pulled out her wand, and thanked the heavens that she had place a charm on the coin which would allow it to become an emergency portkey to wherever she needed to go if it was needed. After ensuring that there was no one around the perimeter, she cautiously headed to the front door, only to spin around, wand raised a moment later. Standing before her was every adult that had been at Grimmauld Place just moments before, but Hermione wasn't going to take any chances. Pointing her wand at Remus Lupin, she asked "What did you say to me in the Shrieking Shack, third year?"

"You truly are the brightest witch of your age." he replied, without hesitation.

Lowering her wand, she told them "I have a coin on this necklace, so my parents can contact me in an emergency. If they need me, it glows red. About ten minutes ago, it glowed red. There's no one around the perimeter, but I haven't been able to check inside."

"You'd make a damn fine Auror, missy." Alastor replied, his magical eye swiveling in all directions. Just as Hermione started to reply, the sound of the front door opening put them all on alert; as one they turned towards the door, wands raised.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to bring quite so many people." Katherine Granger's slightly fearful face was in the doorway, eyeballing the wands pointed directly at her.

"Mum, what present did you give me for my third birthday?" Hermione asked, wand shaking slightly.

"What? Why would you ask..."

"Just answer the question mum."

"A book, Alice in Wonderland, I believe."

Sighing slightly, Hermione lowered her wand. The rest of the group followed suit.

"What happened, mum?" Hermione asked, voice trembling.

"You should come inside, there's a lot I'll need to explain to you, Hermione. And we need a healer, a girl is injured."

At the serious tone of her mother's voice, Hermione immediately knew that something was terribly wrong.

For the first time in her life, Hermione felt apprehensive about entering her childhood home. This was simply due to the rather serious tone of voice her mother had used when speaking before about needing to explain things to her; the last time her mother had used_ that_ tone and said she needed to _explain_ was when she had the 'birds and the bees' talk. Visibly shuddering at the thought of another of_ those_ talks, she followed her mother into the living room. She took one look at the young woman on the couch, and promptly feinted. Luckily, Sirius had followed her in, and caught her before she could fall. Picking her up, he looked to his cousin, Tonks, who promptly conjured a bed from thin air. He laid her down, turned and surveyed the room, noting that Mooney was already giving another unconscious girl medical attention. He turned to the woman that Hermione had called mum,and addressed the question they all wanted answered to her, "What in the name of Merlin is going on?"


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Huge thanks to Burnedx2 for your review! Hermione finally comes into the story in this chapter in a big way! Enjoy, and as always, please r&r! Tao.

**Chapter 13: Three Students, One Secret**

Katherine Granger was in over her head. Just five minutes after she had used the coin to contact her daughter, a woman with red hair had showed up at her front door saying that her car had broken down, and asking if she could use the phone. Katherine, being the kind-hearted type, immediately said yes. With the woman was a young girl who, upon seeing a large group of people appear out of thin air in the middle of the yard, promptly feinted in the middle of the lounge room. Since Genni was already on one couch, there was no choice but to place the girl on the other. When her daughter had arrived and they had finally gotten inside, Hermione had taken one look at young Genni and feinted as well. With nowhere in the lounge room to lay her daughter, Kate was silently cursing every deity she could think of, when that wonderful young woman with the lilac hair used magic to pull a bed out of nowhere. Then she gets asked the one question she doesn't want to answer yet, by a man who she remembers from the wanted ads on the television a couple of years ago. Yes, Katherine Granger was definitely in over her head, with no way out of the rapidly expanding mess. Looking around her rather full lounge room, and seeing that no one, other than the sickly looking brown-haired man who was currently waving his wand over her daughter, was going to accept silence from her, she opened her mouth. But just as she was about to answer, the red-haired woman came into the room. All eyes turned towards her, and she visibly paled. The man that Kate had recognized from the television stared for just one moment before practically jumping on top of the woman, enveloping her in a hug and saying "It can't be, it can't be."

Kate turned to the rest of the room's occupants, noting that they all seemed to recognize the woman, and seemed to be in various states of shock. The woman, who seemed to have finally noticed that the young girl that had accompanied her was unconscious, forcibly shoved the man off of her, and ran across the room to the couch where the girl was laying.

"What did you do to my daughter?" she demanded, staring not at Kate, but at the rest of the room's occupants. The all seemed to shift uncomfortably under her piercing gaze, before Kate took pity on them and answered, "She feinted, I'm sure she'll be coming around any minute now. These people are friends of my daughters'."

Instead of answering, the woman simply looked at Kate, nodded, then turned her attention back to her daughter. After a long and uncomfortable silence, Kate decided she needed something to do, and asked the room in general if they wanted some tea. After everyone except the grizzled man in the corner answered yes, she went to the kitchen. Just as she finished making the tea, a groan was heard from the lounge room, so she hurried out, tea tray in hand, to see if it was her daughter who had woken.

Hermione groaned, and tried to open her eyes, but having been blinded by the light, closed them again and placed a hand over her forehead. She tried to remember what had happened to cause her head to feel as though the entire centaur herd of Hogwarts had run through there, but found herself hazy. She remembered red hair, and assumed that Ginny had tackled her and made her hit her head, probably on the bed. "G-Gin?" she asked weakly, her head throbbing with the effort.

"Ginny's not here, Hermione. We're at your parents' house, remember?"

She tried to put a face to the softly spoken voice, and found the only one she could come up with was "Mooney?"

"Yes, Hermione. Where does it hurt?"

she could feel his arm around her, helping her to sit up. She wondered for a moment when the couches a Grimmauld had become so soft, before his words from before jarred her memory. Getting to Grimmauld. Unpacking. The coin glowing red. Rushing to her parents'. A girl with red hair, who looked remarkably like "Lilly?" she said in a voice barely above a whisper. The answer came from directly in front of her. "No one's called me that for years, but how did you know..." the soft voice of the woman trailed off, and Hermione answered with just one word, "Harry." The woman gasped, her hand coming to rest over her mouth as years of memories that had been magically blocked came rushing back at once. Her intensely green eyes, which had just moments ago been almost cloudy, sparkled once more, and the woman who had been Lillian Smith for the last sixteen years became Lilly Potter-nee-Evans once more. She shook her head and said one name with such venom that everyone in the room shuddered at the thought of being in his shoes. "Dumbledore."

Miles away, in Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a very old man with electric-blue eyes saw one of his many spindly instruments glow, and he began to curse.

Back at Grimmauld, after having grown bored with watching Ron and Ginny playing exploding snap, Harry had gone to the room he was sharing with Ron and layed down, hoping that if he slept for even a little while, the time would pass more quickly. He was extremely worried about his friends, whom he had come to think of as his adoptive family. Each of them held a special place in his heart, even Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, who while gruff, was full of the most interesting stories and advice an aspiring Auror could ever hope to hear. He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep until his scar burst with pain, and images from another's mind filled his own. 'Great,' he thought 'old Voldie's trying to torture me again.'

The images were of the night his parents had died. It was always the same; Pettigrew telling Voldemort where the Potters' were. Voldemort blasting open the front door of the house. His father screaming to his mother to take Harry and run. Voldemort killing his father. His mother, begging for his life. Voldemort killing his mother. Trying to kill him. Then pain, so excruciating, it made the Cruciatus curse look like a tickling charm. But this time, it was different. Before, up until the part where Harry's mother would beg for her son's life, everything was perfectly clear. But from the moment the nursery door opened, everything became hazy, as if a fog had descended on the room at that exact moment.

This time, when the door opened, Harry noticed that not only was the fog gone from the room, but several other things had changed. Where before his mother had stood, Harry in her arms, begging for her son's life. Now she stood in front of not one, but three cots, arms outstretched to cover them all, begging not just for her son, but for her children. This time, when Voldemort raised his wand to kill his mother, a shimmering white shield appeared before her, and when the green light of the killing curse hit her, her body simply disappeared. This time, when Voldemort raised his wand to kill Harry, two hands appeared from either side of his cot, seemingly casting the same shield he had seen in front of his mother just moments before. Harry watched as the green light of the killing curse pushed against the shield, just barely touching his forehead, before being pushed back onto Voldemort, who screamed in agony, and disappeared.

Harry opened his eyes, absentmindedly rubbing his scar and thinking 'What the hell was that about?'

In a secret location, somewhere far away, Voldemort let his frustration be known. The screaming of the muggle being held under the Cruciatus could be heard throughout the dilapidated manor. All the Death Eaters present shuddered in fear. Their master was not pleased.

Back at the Granger's house, after half an hour of tense silence in which every conscious occupant wearily eyed the woman known as 'Lilly', the two remaining girls came to. Genni, having had a mentally and emotionally exhausting day, was still trying to come to terms with the fact that her mother wasn't her mother, when she realized she was at the home of another student. She took one look at Hermione Granger and lowered her eyes to the floor. She was a Slytherin, Granger a Griffindor; neither house had any love for the other, so she felt awkward and out of place. She was waiting for the yelling and screaming to start when Hermione, who was finally fully recovered from both her feinting spell and the shock of finding out that Lilly Potter was still alive, walked over with a cup of tea, and sat down next to the self-conscious Slytherin. After realizing that she wasn't going to be attacked, Genni relaxed and began to sip her tea. Tea which was promptly spat straight back out of her mouth just a few moments later ofter her moth.. Marian and a woman who she assumed was Granger's mother both said at the same time, "Genni, Hermione. Lilly here is the mother of both of you."

Both girls sat in shock at the words, staring at the woman before them. Then Lilly, who had steadily regained and sorted her memories over the past half-hour, began to tell them the truth. Her eyes, that peculiar shade of green, (caught somewhere between the Avada Kedavra and electric greens) drifted out of focus, seeming to look somewhere far off, as she became lost in the memory of that fateful night. The night she had lost her three eldest children.

**Thunderclouds rolled in, thick and dark, cutting of the light of the slowly setting sun. Lilly shivered as she eyed them before closing the door behind her, and following the man into her living room. Her husband, James, was already seated there, and poured three glasses of whiskey. Lilly stopped in the doorway, looking up the stairs towards the nursery where the three children were sleeping. Sighing, she entered her living room, taking the chair beside her husband's, and looking at the man across from them with undisguised hope. Hope that he was about to shatter. "Lilly," the man began, knowing that his plan was going to be a hard sell. James Potter would follow him to the ends of the earth, Lilly Potter would only follow her children that far. "I need you to tell me about your children." "You already know, Dumbledore."**

**He sighed, the grabbed the glass of whiskey and downed it. "The truth, Lilly. A prophesy has been made, and I need to know the truth. If the prophesy is about your children, they will be in grave danger. My sources inside Voldemort's camp have said that he is aware of a prophesy. They are unaware if it is the true one, or the false one I set up to protect our only hope of defeating him."**

**Lilly sighed, and looked at her husband, who nodded almost imperceptibly, before looking at Dumbledore once more. "they aren't triplets, Albus." she began, tears already streaming down her face. "Genni is older, but she's very small for her age. She isn't James' daughter, either. I was already pregnant when we got together." at this, her husband reached across and grabbed her hand, for which she smiled. "He knows, of course. He's always known. After I gave birth to her prematurely, she needed to stay in hospital. Then after we were married, I fell pregnant with the twins. Thankfully, Harry and Hermione were both born healthy, and Genni was able to come out of hospital at the same time. We decided then, that we would raise them as triplets."**

"**Who is her father, Lilly, and what is the age difference?"**

"**I won't tell you who her father is, Albus. Only that he's a Death Eater. I didn't know until after I was already pregnant, and before you ask no, he doesn't know about her. He believes her to be James' daughter; one of the triplets. That's all. As for the age difference, she's born on the winter solstice so, three and a half years."**

**She downed her own glass of whiskey before looking up at the man, who looked back with sorrow written all over his face. **

"**They are the children of the real prophesy then. We must prepare, he comes for them tonight."**

_Everything was set, Lilly's will had been re-written to ensure that if anything happened to her, her children would be safe; Genni, her eldest, was to go to her squib cousin, the only other member of her biological family left after the curse on them had finally taken effect. Harry was to go to his godfather, and Hermione was to go to Katherine Glenlea, soon to be Katherine Granger, who was a good friend of Lilly's and Hermione's godmother. She didn't much like the idea of splitting up her children, but she knew that this way, they would be harder to find, should someone from Voldemort's supporters go looking. She just hoped that Harry didn't end up with her adoptive family's daughter, Petunia. That woman hated magic with a passion. Checking her pocket for the special portkey Dumbledore had given her, which would make it seem to Voldemort that Lilly was dead, she headed upstairs to wait. A short while later, she heard the front door being blown off it's hinges, and her husbands' yell for her to take Harry and go; something was wrong, she could feel it. Looking downstairs from the nursery door, she saw her husband get hit with the killing curse before he could reach his portkey. Her husband was dead. The thought hit her, hard. She choked back the tears threatening to fall, before stepping back and closing the door. She suddenly realized that she didn't have her wand. The door flew open, and there stood Voldemort. Without her wand, she didn't stand a chance, but her children might. She backed up and threw open her arms, covering all three cots. "Not my children, please not my children." she begged. "Take me, but leave the kids alone." tears pouring down her face, she heard him tell her to step aside, and she would be spared. All she could do was shake her head; she would not sacrifice her children, she would rather die. He raised his wand and she closed her eyes, praying to merlin that her sacrifice would protect her children. She felt something surround her, and opened her eyes to see a shimmering white shield of raw magical power in font of her. She felt the portkey start to activate, and turned her head; her two daughters were casting a shield each, with Hermione's covering her, and Genni's covering Harry. She smiled, knowing that everything would be fine before the portkey whisked her away. She landed on the ground, hard. Picking herself up and opening her eyes, she saw the last thing she would never remember from her life; Albus Dumbledore stood before her, his wand raised and pointing directly at her. She opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, he cut her off._

"_I'm sorry, Lilly. This is the way it has to be. They can't grow up with you. They'd be too happy. I would have obliviated you, but there were far too many memories to do that, and I can't risk you ending up in St Mungo's. They'd give you back the children, and as I already said; we can't have that now, can we? It's for the greater good. Goodbye, Lilly." He waved his wand in a complicated pattern, and Lilly's memories were gathered and blocked from her conscious mind forever._

"From that moment on, I was Lillian Smith, muggle. A few years later, I had my daughter, Sarah. She's a squib, as most of my biological family was. I was the first in fifty generations of a completely pureblood family to have been able to use magic. Just a year after Sarah was born, her father died in a car accident." Lilly finished her story, tears in her eyes.

"But how did you remember?" Hermione asked, and Lilly turned to her, and with a smile said. "Because of you, and Genni."

"I don't understand, how...?" Hermione began again, but Lilly cut her off.

"The only way to break through the block was for all three children to be together. With you and Genii both being here, and you mentioning Harry's name, it broke through the block. I don't think the manipulative old coot ever thought there'd be a chance of something like this happening."

After sitting in silence for a while, Genni asked the question no one else seemed willing to. "So, who's going to tell Harry?"


	14. Chapter 14

AN: this chapter is another one of those 'set up the plot' chapters. Enjoy, and as always, please r&r! Tao.

**Chapter 14: Draco's Human?**

At Malfoy Manor, Draco was finding the day to be far too long for his liking. As soon as he had returned that morning, his father had cornered him, wanting to know what he had gotten in his inheritance. Needless to say, he had been in an awful mood after Draco told him that all he had gotten were some memories of him as a child, and a letter allowing him to access certain books of his godfather's which were to remain in the library. Lucius Malfoy was a cruel man, even to his family, and his son had remained on alert all morning, until his father had finally decided he was going to inform his master about Severus' daughter. Draco was rather grateful for this; his father was known for trying to drink away his problems. When this was unsuccessful, (usually every time he drank) he would turn his attention to his wife, resulting in Narcissa receiving several bruises and broken bones. Then he would turn to his son, Cruciatus and cutting curses being used repeatedly, in what Lucius would refer to as 'lessons'. Thankfully, Draco was now seventeen, and as such, he was able to heal both himself and his mother when the head of the family finally passed out, either from imbibing too much or magical and physical exhaustion. Either way, he was determined that he was going to go out of his way to avoid his father once he returned. Draco hoped, (and hated himself for doing so) that there would be a revel tonight; his father always returned in a far better mood when there was, and that meant that both Draco and his mother were temporarily spared from Lucius' foul moods and temper. Contrary to popular belief, neither Draco or Narcissa were the cruel and aloof people they presented to the world. They were both quite generous and kind-hearted, and hated to see anyone suffer. They both had to present their 'public' faces to the world though, for fear of Lucius' reaction if they went against what he wanted. There was a part of Draco that hoped that the next mission his father went on for the Dark Lord would be his last, due simply to living in fear of his father's formidable temper. But his father was still his father, and some small part of him still cared enough to be there for him when he was punished for an unsuccessful mission. This limbo; one minute tending to his fathers' battered and bruised body, and being terrified of the man the next; was how Draco spent most of his time when at the manor. He simply couldn't bring himself to think of the place as home. It was the house he had grown up in, but it wasn't a home; love and kindness were needed for that, or a feeling of comfort. In Malfoy manor, there was none, never had been. His father had assured that.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Draco headed out of the library (where he had been hiding from his father all morning) and downstairs to the sun room, where his mother would be having her tea. When he walked in, she turned towards him and he immediately noticed the bruise which was beginning to form around her right eye; he may have escaped his father's wrath, but his mother hadn't. Wincing in sympathy, he pulled out his wand, and cast a glamor charm, since healing the bruise would only result in his mother receiving another. Thinking quickly about how he could appease his father, and get both himself and his mother away from the man, even temporarily, he found himself recalling Harkham's words from the day before; **"Oh, Mrs Malfoy, **_**you**_** are more than welcome in **_**my**_** home any time." **The girl had given both of them an out. 'After all,' he thought, 'Father did say that he wanted me to get closer to her, so I can _persuade_ her to give up the house.' Smiling to himself, he decided that now, while his father was out, would be the best time to bring it up with his mother.

"Mother," he began, knowing that he would have to slowly bring the idea into the conversation, or risk his mother figuring out what he was up to.

"Yes Draco, what do you want this time?" Narcissa replied, eyeballing her son in that "I-know-you-want-something-so-spit-it-out look.

"I was wondering what you thought of Harkham."

Narcissa paused, a thoughtful expression on her face, before answering.

"She seemed like a charming young woman. A little headstrong though. Determined too. Paid a rather large amount of attention to you, Draco." The last of this was said with a wry smile, as though she knew that her son had already started to see the girl in a new light. Before Draco could say any more on the subject, she decided to turn the tables on him. "Remind me, what house is she in again? I recall you mentioning her before, but I can't quite seem to remember what you said..." she trailed off, leaving the door open for her son to dig himself into the hole she was certain he was already (unknowingly) digging himself into.

"Slytherin, mother. Though why that rag of a hat put her in Slytherin I simply can't understand." Draco stood, and Narcissa watched her son begin to pace as he spoke of the girl, his eyes lit with a passion she hadn't seen since he had been a boy of five or six. 'The girl's already worked her way under his skin.' she thought to herself, as Draco continued to rant about her.

"She's, well meek is the way to describe her, I guess. More like a Hufflepuff than a Slytherin. Or a Ravenclaw; she'd fit in perfectly there, bloody bookworm she is. Almost as bad as that mudblood, Granger. The only time I've ever seen her do or say anything even remotely Slytherin, was when she told off Uncle Sev and the old coot in the common room, when all of those idiots were being attacked." He stopped pacing for a moment, and smiled at the memory. "It was spectacular, mother. I've never seen Uncle Sev so furious, yet unable to do anything about it in my life! She looked so formidable, standing there. Cheeks flushed slightly pink, eyes glittering with undisguised anger. Simply spectacular." He suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing, scowled and started pacing once more. Narcissa smiled wryly again, knowing that the girl was _definitely_ under his skin, and had been there for far longer than just yesterday.

" But still, she's no Slytherin." He finally sat after this last statement, putting his head in his hands. Narcissa leaned forward and patted her son's hand, before sitting back in her chair again to study him. He looked up, she noticed that determined look in his eyes, and braced herself for whatever was coming.

"Mother, how would you like to accompany me the next time I go to her home?"

"Next time?"

"Yes. I've already spoken to her about returning. There are still some things in my inheritance which I've yet to see, so at breakfast this morning, I asked about returning. I should receive a letter when she returns. How would you like to accompany me?"

Narcissa saw the almost hopeful look in his eye, and reluctantly agreed, before realizing that he had said 'when she returns'.

"When she returns from where, Draco?"

"She said something about her mother, so I'm guessing that's where she went. I'll see you at dinner." was his reply as he walked out, mind already wandering to how he would manage to get his father to agree to his mother accompanying him, without either of them receiving a beating. He headed straight for his room, collapsing on his bed as soon as the door was closed. Relief flooded through him, and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax for the first time since he had spoken to his father that morning. Even around his mother, who he knew would never harm him, he found himself tense. His mind wandered back to her eye, the way it had looked before he had applied the glamor, and the relief he had felt was quickly replaced with guilt. It hadn't quite bruised yet, so that meant that she had received it this morning. That meant after he and his father had spoken, which meant it was his fault. Draco rolled onto his side, curled into a ball, and cried. He cried for his mother. For his lost childhood. He cried at just how unfair life could be. But most of all, he cried for the loss of the one person who had always been there. He cried for his godfather. For the first time, Draco felt completely and utterly helpless. He felt weak. Even when he couldn't stop his father, he never felt _completely _weak, but right at this moment, he felt completely and utterly weak. He felt lost.

"**Feeling weak or lost isn't a sign of you being less, Draco. It's a sign that you're human." **

His godfather's words gave him a little comfort, and he realized exactly what it was that he was feeling. Grief. So he cried and screamed, until he could no longer do either. Then he sat, and thought of every good memory he had, almost all of them were of he, his mother and his godfather. In not one was his father present, but for some reason, this didn't bother him. He thought about his father, and focused on his feelings. He realized that he didn't hate the _man_, he hated his actions. After analyzing how he felt about that, and what it meant, he knew that for the first time, he felt human.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Enjoy, and as always please R&R! Tao.

**Chapter 15: One Becomes Ten**

Back at the Granger's everyone had balked at the idea of having to be the one to tell Harry. The boy's notoriously volatile temper when told about things which directly affected him, meant that everyone felt quite apprehensive about telling him. Genni had almost delighted in bringing it up, since she (being a Slytherin, and thus unlikely to be believed) wouldn't be the poor soul to whom the task would be given. Seeing that the dilemma wouldn't be solved here and now, she decided to bring up another important subject; that of Dumbledore.

"Well what are we going to do about Dumbledore, then?"

The simple question caused everyone in the room other than Sarah (who was still trying to figure out half of what was going on, and so was quietly listening to the conversations around her) and Kate (who was more worried about how her daughter was taking the news that she wasn't a Granger at all) immediately started putting in their thoughts on the matter, which ranged from hanging him up outside the Ministry by his ears (rather enthusiastically suggested by Tonks) to poisoning him and transfiguring the body to hide the evidence (Sirius and Lilly) to simply confronting him outright, since he 'had to have a perfectly good reason' (Remus and Hermione). Mad-Eye had stayed silent, as had Genni, simply listening to the others debate the pro's and con's of each, until Genni had finally had enough of listening to them, and decided to put a stop to it. While she had been sitting there, she had thought about the problem, and had realized something rather important; none of them knew exactly _why_ Dumbledore had done this. She had also realized that there was some kind of compulsion charm on Snape's journal, since yesterday she hadn't let it out of her sight, but today, with other things on her mind, she had hardly thought of it at all.

"Bloody Griffindors, the lot of you." she said, as she stood to leave the room. Mad-Eye looked on in amusement, as the group who had been arguing, (all of them Griffindors bar Tonks, who considered herself an honorary Griffindor) turned to her with looks of outrage.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Hermione asked, her face flushed from both trying to get her point across, and anger at the blatantly Slytherin statement.

"Simply that the whole lot of you sound just like the stereotypical Griffindors that you obviously are." Genni replied, staring defiantly back.

"Well what would the _Slytherin_ have us do then?" retorted Hermione, exaggerating Genni's house name in such a way as to turn it into an insult. Genni refused to rise to the bait, and decided to take the opportunity to state the obvious.

"Do any of you know _why_ the old coot practically made us non-existent?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

"That's precisely why confronting him is the best option." Hermione stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'll take that as a no, then." Genni continued, ignoring Hermione's comment completely. "Killing him won't give us an answer, so that's out." she said, with a poignant look in the direction of Lilly and Sirius. "Stringing him up by his ears while enjoyable, won't give us any answers either." this time looking at Tonks, who looked thoroughly chastised. "And as for confronting him, ARE YOU INSANE? The man makes it so that no one remembers that the Potters ever had more than one child, has more political pull than anyone else in the wizarding world, and is the leader of the 'light'. He's done something that is definitely on the dark side of grey, having practically ripped a family apart, and stolen three children from their mother. He's stolen a lifetime's worth of memories from Lilly, and you want to CONFRONT HIM?" at this point, she stopped and looked to Hermione and Remus, who seemed to have realized their folly, but she continued on regardless. "Whatever reason he had to justify doing all of that back then will, I'm sure, more than suffice now. What matters now isn't _confronting_ him; it's finding out why he did it, and ensuring that we don't lose our knowledge of the truth in the process." she finished with a sigh, chancing a glance at Mad-Eye as she sat down. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"So what do we do then?" came Hermione's voice once more, this time sounding unsure, barely above a whisper.

"I think it's time I learn how to be a proper Slytherin." Genni said. "Snape and Dumbledore once told me I was put in Slytherin for a reason; maybe this is why." she paused, deep in thought, barely registering that she had the unwavering attention of everyone in the room. After a moment, a plan had formed, clear as day in her mind.

"Dumbledore probably has monitors in place to let him know if the memory charm's been broken. So here's what we do. We pretend we don't believe a word of it. That it's just a trick of Voldemort's. Anyone who doesn't know occlumency will stay at my manor for the rest of the summer. Mad-Eye, you tell Dumbledore that they've been placed in a secure location, or they've been called away on a family emergency. I'm fairly certain I'll have books on occlumency, so we'll use the rest of the summer to learn. Once school starts again, I'll have to be a proper Slytherin, which means I'm going to have to be nasty to you, Hermione, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Lilly, you need to go under the radar, so you and Sarah are going to have to stay at my manor as well. Same goes for you and your husband, Mrs Granger. When the time is right, we'll confront him. Agreed?" Genni looked around the room, and noted several looks of awe.

After everyone had nodded their assent to the plan, Remus went upstairs with Kate to pack for her and Richard. Tonks went with Lilly and Sarah to gather their belongings and her own, before returning to the Granger's. Mad-Eye, Sirius and Hermione headed to Grimmauld to grab Harry and do the same. Mad-Eye was the only one who wouldn't be staying with her, but he was helping to get the rest of them to Snape manor before returning to Grimmauld to deal with the old coot.

This left Genni and Marian alone. Plucking up her courage, Marian decided to ask the question she had been thinking of since the moment she had told her daughter the truth.

"You hate me, don't you?"

Genni looked at the woman, and analyzed her feelings, before replying. "No, I don't hate you. I hate that you lied to me for all these years; I've been old enough to know that you're not my real mother for quite a while now. I'll forgive you eventually, but it'll take time."

Genni looked at the sad but relieved face of the woman who raised her, before stepping outside and apparating to what was now going to be a very full house.

"William." she called, the moment she stepped inside. He appeared just a moment later, as though he had been waiting for her.

"Yes, Miss Genni. What can I get for you?"

"How soon can you have rooms for.." she quickly counted in her head. "nine people ready? Oh, wait there's a couple in there, so they'll share a room." she looked up in time to see William grimace slightly before he schooled his face into that of a servant once more.

"Within the hour, Miss. How long will they be staying?"

"The couple and two others will be staying indefinitely, the rest will probably leave September first. Will that be a problem?" she asked, worried that it might be too much strain on the staff.

"Not at all. Is there anything else?"

"Yes, there'll be one more for dinner on top of the ones staying."

"I'll make sure it's done." She smiled at him before he turned away, then sighed and headed back outside to apparate. This was going to be a long day.

At Grimmauld place, Mad-Eye headed to the library to look for Harry, while Hermione and Sirius headed upstairs to pack. Since she had only unpacked that morning, Hermione simply waved her wand in an arch, sending everything she owned back into the trunk from which it had emerged earlier. After ensuring her trunk was locked and shrinking it, she placed it in her pocket and headed to Sirius' room, at the end of the third floor. As she approached the door, she heard swearing. Shaking her head, she entered his room and laughed at the sight before her; Sirius had tried to pack magically, but had somehow turned all of his boxers bright pink. Adding to the hilarity of this was the fact that one pair had laded on his head, and he was currently turning on the spot whilst trying to physically fight them off. By the looks of it, he was loosing. Badly. Taking pity on him, Hermione simply repeated her action from earlier, sending the offending article of clothing (and everything else) into a large red and gold trunk at the end of the bed. Sirius, noticing that he no longer had bright pink boxers on his head, spun towards the door. Seeing Hermione standing there, wand in hand, he blushed, murmured a thank you, and headed over to shrink the trunk. Hermione simply shot him a look which clearly said I'm-never-going-to-let-you-live-this-down, before turning around and heading back downstairs to see how Mad-Eye was faring with Harry.

An hour later (after a rather heated debate between Harry and Moody, which resulted in Hermione packing Harry's belongings while Sirius forcibly held Harry back) found everyone from before, plus a rather confused Harry and a concerned Richard Granger (who had been forcibly dragged from the dental practice by the ear thanks to his wife) standing in the lounge room of the Granger residence. Genni held out a silver platter (the largest thing she could find on short notice before leaving for the Granger's) and they all took hold. At precisely 2:56pm, the platter-come-portkey activated, grabbing them all forcibly from behind the navel.

Less than a minute later, the group was standing in a dining room. They all looked at Genni, who simply smiled and said "Welcome to Snape Manor."


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Here we go, off on the adventure again! Their first day together at Snape Manor. As always, please R&R. Enjoy! Tao

**Chapter 16: Well, **_**That **_**Went Well...**

William, who had been patiently waiting in the dining room, stepped forward. "My name is William, and I am the staff liaison here at Snape Manor. If you have any problems, let me know. Now if you'll all follow me, I'll take you to your rooms."

"Staff liaison?" Hermione asked under her breath.

"I don't know, Mione." Harry sighed. "Then again, I don't even know what we're doing with a _Slytherin_ in _Snape's_ house."

He continued to mutter all the way up the staircase, and Hermione was fairly certain she heard him say "Hiding things from me _again_." and "Bloody occlumency lessons. He _knows_ I can't do it."

Rather than confront him while he appeared to be in a particularly bad mood, she decided to stay silent. After the second flight of stairs, and numerous corridors, they arrives at a cul-de-sac of rooms, almost identical to the family wing, one floor above. Genni, who had stayed at the back of the group, was fairly certain that the family wing was _directly_ above.

"This is the long-term visitor's wing, east. Each of you has your own room, somewhere in this corridor. The couple," at this, Kate and Robert Granger stepped forward, "Will be residing in this room." he said, indicating the double doors at the end. The Grangers immediately offered their thanks, and disappeared into their room. "Every other room is set up as a single, so feel free to pick one for yourself." As he turned to walk away, Genni stopped him. "William?"

"Yes, Miss Genni?"

"Are any of the rooms joined?"

"Joined?" he asked, confusion clearly written all over his usually stoic face.

"Yes, joined. There are two sets of mothers with daughters, and one godfather/godson, so I think they'd be happier if they knew they had immediate access to one another."

"Certainly. All the rooms can be joined with another. Simply say '_puera interior activar_' and the numbers of the two rooms you wish to join. The numbers are on the doors."

"Thanks, William."

After watching William leave, Genni turned to find that all of the group (bar the Grangers) were still standing in the corridor.

"Right, well then. Granger, you should take this room." she said, indicating the door next to the Granger's. "I'll be in shortly to activate the interior door which joins your room to your parents'. Lilly, you and Sarah should take rooms next to one another. Sirius, same for you and Ha..Potter. I'll also activate the interior doors in your rooms. Everyone else, just find a room. Mad-Eye, I've already organized for you to have dinner here, no arguments. Least I can do is ensure you're well fed before you deal with Dumbledore. Once I'm done activating the doors, I'll leave you all to settle in. William will let you know when dinner is ready. The only places I wouldn't advise going would be the library; for obvious reasons, the floor above; it's the family wing, and my father's study on the ground floor. Everywhere else should be fine." she looked around, taking note of the nervous faces of Har..Potter and Sarah. "Right, well. Let's get those doors activated, shall we?" she asked, indicating Hermione's room.

Hermione opened the door and walked in, a small gasp escaping her lips as she took in the sight of the room spread before her.

_Beautiful_

"It is, isn't it? I couldn't quite believe how good the décor here is, myself."

Hermione started, not having realized she'd actually said anything. She turned, a nervous smile on her face, before Genni decided to ease the tension.

"Either he had excellent taste, or the decorators did, though I'm not quite sure which is the more disturbing image; him painting, or him scowling over the top of the poor decorators as they did."

It worked, and Hermione's smile widened, before she broke into fits of giggles.

"I think I missed the joke." Genni said, watching on in amusement as the other girl doubled over.

"S-snape. In a... a painting smock." the girl gasped out, amidst fits of giggles. At that, Genni also started laughing, and soon both girls were doubled over, trying to regain their breath. Too soon, the moment of camaraderie was gone, awkward tension replacing it. "I'll just get this door activated, then." Genni said, slightly sullen. She held out her wand, pointing it at the wall separating room 5, (the Grangers) from room 6 (Hermione's), and whispered the spell. "_puera interior activar"_

Genni had been unsure of what to expect, but this anti-climactic result certainly wasn't it. A door had certainly appeared, the sounds of locks accompanying it; but it was so... normal. A normal wooden door, with a normal brass lock. Smiling slightly at what appeared to be an equally confused Hermione, she exited the room and headed directly across the corridor to knock on door 4. She never got the chance to knock however, as a head of red hair appeared before her eyes. Trying to ignore the feelings accompanying the sight of Lilly Potter (which she wasn't yet ready to analyze), she quickly repeated the spell, connecting rooms 3 (Sarah) and 4 (Lilly) before excusing herself once more. All that was left for her to do was join rooms 7 and 8; Sirius and Har...Potter. Unsure of which of the two men would be more approachable (or at least less likely to tear her apart, magically or otherwise) she stood nervously in the corridor between the two rooms. Before she could decide which was the less (or more) dangerous option, Sirius stuck his head out of the door of room 7.

"Ah, I hate to ask, but I never was very good with household spells... could you give me a hand to unpack?"

She nodded her assent, but before helping him, she walked to the wall separating his room from his godson's and whispered the incantation. When the door appeared she turned, only to have a sense of deja-vu; her ankle had twisted as she turned, and she found herself safely ensconced in the arms of the older man.

"I had thought for a moment that it was rather anti-climactic," he said, tilting his head to indicate the door that had just appeared. "but then you just had to go and make it interesting." he finished with a slight chuckle. Slightly embarrassed by her appalling sense of balance of late, Genni simply stepped back from the embrace, and waved her wand in a high arch, unpacking everything contained within the trunk. Neither of them had seen a pair of startled green eyes, watching their exchange from the now slightly open door between rooms 7 and 8, narrow with anger.

"Well there you go, all done." she said, her cheerful voice belaying the fact that she felt uncomfortable.

"Yes, there I go." muttered the older man, a look on his face which to most would be undecipherable.

Genni half walked, half ran out the door, when his voice stopped her in her tracks in the doorway.

"So, Snape manor. I guess that means you're Snivelly's kid."

The cold tone of his voice, mixed with the rather unpleasant nick-name for her father slightly raised her hackles.

"Yes, I am _Snivelly's_ kid." she replied coldly, before turning and walking away. As she reached the end of the corridor, she turned back, intent on giving him a mouthful. Upon seeing his head appear from the doorway of his room, she decided against giving him a mouthful, but she would still let him know exactly what she thought of his attitude regarding Severus Snape. Narrowing her eyes, and in the coldest tone possible, she said "I'll see you at dinner then, _Mr Black._" before disappearing down the staircase.

He watched her go, and couldn't help but think to himself 'Shit. I've pissed off the lady of the manor. Shit! I shouldn't have said that. She's just as good at magic as Hermione. SHIT! I've got no one to blame but myself.' Sighing at the predicament he'd gotten himself in, he turned and entered his room once more, intent on figuring out how to turn his once black boxers (now bright pink with fluro green spots from his latest attempt at a household spell) back to normal.

Some time later, William appeared in the corridor of the guest wing, and announced that dinner was being served. Genni, having spent the majority of the time that had passed in the sunroom, was already waiting in the dining room when the group appeared. Last in the line was Har...'Potter' she mentally chided herself. 'Can't go getting attached.' He looked agitated, and she realized that he hadn't been told what was going on. When everyone was seated, food began to be brought out; it seemed the kitchen staff had been hard at work, the sheer amount of it was daunting. About half way through the meal, Genni noticed tension lingering in the air. She looked around the table, and quickly realized why; Har...('Stop that, it's Potter. P.O.T.T.E.R. Potter!' she chided herself) was staring intently at Lilly, and seemed to slowly be coming to an assumption about her. She saw him incline his head in Lilly's direction; he was speaking to his godfather. She saw Sirius' mouth move; recognizing the words, Genni immediately pulled her wand. A split second later, Potter exploded.

"WHAT!"

He stood up, and everyone at the table seemed to come to the startling realization that this boy was no longer a boy, but a man. And that this_ man_ was furious, and rather imposing. He stood, allowing himself to reach his full height of 6 foot 3; it seemed that living with his godfather had improved his health. Everyone waited with baited breath for the rest of the explosion, but it never came. He turned to his godfather, said "You'll explain later." then walked out of the dining room and up the stairs. Everyone exhaled, and Hermione, looking in sympathy at Lilly, said "Well _that_ went well."

"_Well_?" came the teary-eyed reply. "How could_ that_ possibly be well?"

"He's normally much worse when he finds out things of a distressing nature; so yes, that went well. Just give him time, Lilly. He'll come around." Remus simply held her in his arms after his softly spoken statement drove her to uncontrollable tears.

"Miss Genni?" She turned to see William standing in the door, a look of regret on his face.

"Yes William?"

"I just received this letter, in response to the one you asked me to send." he walked over, handing her a rolled-up piece of parchment, then headed to the door.

"What letter?" Genni asked, confusion gracing her face.

"The one to Mr Malfoy, ma'am."

"Malfoy?" the snarled question came from her left; Sirius' face darkened, reminding her of an approaching thunderstorm.

'Oh shit.' she thought, 'I completely forgot about that.' Schooling her face, and trying to keep the quiver of panic out of her voice she replied "Yes, Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. His inheritance is contained within the manor, and he is unable to remove it. Therefor, he needs to come here." Opening the roll of parchment, her face visibly paled. Ignoring his friend's muttered curses regarding the Malfoy's and their 'perfect timing', Remus turned and asked "What's wrong?"

Sighing, Genni simply handed the parchment to him, before speaking to the room. "He'll be here tomorrow, and he's bringing his mother."


	17. Chapter 17

AN: When I finished the last chapter, my muse informed me that she was going on vacation, since I didn't appreciate the way she kept jumping ahead in the story (finicky things, aren't they?) I have found a temporary replacement muse, (thank goodness for that!) and shall continue with the story. This chapter: Moody speaks (finally!) A mysterious man is sneaking around the manor, and the Malfoy's arrive. As always, please R&R! Tao.

**Chapter 17: A Sirius Apology and Paradise**

"Great! Just Great!" Sirius snarled, standing and storming from the room. "Bloody Malfoy's and their perfect timing. Harry's already pissed off!" His voice faded slightly, but could still be heard as he continued up the stairs; certain curses being strung together in a way which (in a less serious situation) would have been amusing.

'My sentiments exactly.' Genni thought, watching with interest the reactions of everyone else at the table. Hermione simply glowered darkly in her direction, before following Sirius upstairs. Remus smiled sympathetically at her, before leading Lilly (accompanied by a concerned looking Sarah) up to her room. Tonks, looking rather distressed, considering she was a fully trained Auror, turned and whispered something to Moody, before following suit. The Grangers, ever the pleasant couple, thanked her for dinner, before going off to find their undoubtedly distraught daughter. This left her alone with Mad-Eye, who seemed to understand that she needed a moment to collect herself. Groaning loudly, she lowered her head to her hands, rubbing her eyes with her palms before asking the ceiling "Why me?"

Moody looked at her, and seeming to have come to a decision, spoke to her for the first time. "Perhaps because you're strong enough to handle it."

Lifting her head, she turned to him, noting that although his appearance was terrifying, his eyes held respect. For her.

"Handle it?" she asked incredulously, not seeing how that could be possible.

"Yes, handle it. You think well on your feet, girl. The way you handled yourself earlier was impressive. Your reaction time even more so; you had your wand out, and pointed at Potter before he could even open his mouth., an.." She decided to cut him off.

"That's only because I could sense the tension, and I knew what Black had told him, and how he would react. It had noth..." this time, she was the one who was cut off.

"Don't tell me it had nothing to do with being quick; the fact that you noticed the tension in the air tells me just how good you are. You anticipated what was happening, and reacted accordingly. I doubt anyone other than the two of us could've done something, if Potter'd let his temper get the better of him. Add to that the fact that it's _your_ plan we're following; a damn good plan, by the way, which you seem to have thought of _in the moment_. That makes you, in my book, able to handle it." He looked at her thoughtfully for just a moment, before standing and walking out, indicating that she should follow. He glanced at her, before saying something that shocked her. "I'll put it this way, missy. You've got my respect, and that's a damn hard thing to accomplish."

"Thank you." she said quietly, as they walked to the front door together.

"If I have any problems with Dumbledore, I'll let you know. And don't you worry about Potter; as long as you keep him and the Malfoy's separated, you'll be fine. Any problems, just let me know." he said, as he turned and exited the manor, disapparating just beyond the edge of the wards.

A short time later, she was showered, dressed and in bed. Her last thoughts were of Mad-Eye's encouraging words, and that tomorrow was definitely going to be a long day.

In the middle of the night, a man shrouded in darkness, stealthily walked through the manor, towards the third floor, stopping every few feet and listening for any sound. Creeping up the last few stairs, he headed to the end, and listened. Hearing only the sounds of the rooms occupant breathing evenly, he moved his ear away from the door. 'It worked, the dreamless sleep worked.' Satisfied that his job was done, for the second night he slunk out of the corridor the same way he entered it; in complete silence.

Far away, a man with red eyes stared at the hopelessly blank surface of a charmed mirror, before tossing it angrily onto the nearest surface and pacing his room, cursing and muttering under his breath at the lack of an image.

Groaning and cursing the brightness, Genni slowly opened her eyes and grabbed her wand, casting '_tempus_'. "Five past six, fantastic, bloody fantastic." she muttered to herself, rolling out of bed, and heading for the bathroom. "At least I didn't dream anything horrid last night." she said to no one, as she closed the door. In fact, although she didn't know it, she hadn't dreamt at all.

After a scalding hot shower, Genni emerged from the bathroom to find clothes laid out on her bed once more. Silently thanking whichever staff member was responsible, she slipped into the black slacks and button up shirt, and headed downstairs intent on finding some coffee. Entering the dining room a short time later, she found herself face to face with someone who appeared to have had the same idea. Someone she didn't particularly want to see at all, let alone that early in the morning. Someone named Sirius Black.

"Well good morning, sunshine! Coffee?" he asked, in a cheerful voice. 'Great, he's a morning person. Just what I needed.' she thought to herself, muttering "Thanks." as she practically snatched the pot from his hands. He seemed to have decided that conversation wasn't a good idea this early in the morning if she was involved and instead of replying, moved to the sideboard on the wall, leaning up against it and studying her over the rim of his cup. After sitting at the table, ensuring she was facing the infuriating man, she pured herself a cup and added liberal amounts of sugar.

"Looking to get a sugar high, are we?" he asked, smirking at her in a way so reminiscent of a certain Slytherin who would be arriving sometime that morning, that she found herself wanting to snap back a retort. Holding her tongue, she instead settled for glowering at him, before taking a sip of her coffee, and sighing contentedly.

"Good?" he asked, this time without the infuriating smirk.

"Very." she replied, deciding that allowing him one-word answers was about as civil as she was going to get; at least until he apologized.

"Looking forward to seeing your guests?" he asked, crossing his ankles and leaning further back.

"Not particularly." she growled, hating that she couldn't think of a one word answer. He sighed, uncrossing his ankles and heading over to the table. Taking the chair across from her, his face became filled with tension.

"Listen, about last night," he began, clearly uncomfortable. 'Good, so he should be.' she thought to herself, refusing to help him in any way. "I shouldn't have said what I did. Sniv...Sev..._Snape_ and I didn't get along particularly well in school. Hated each other, actually." he heavily sighed once more, and shook his head. "Point is, no matter how I thought of him, it was disrespectful of me to speak of him that way, especially to you. I apologize." his face twisted, as though the words had left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. "I don't think it's worth much, but the only thing I dreamt about last night was how badly my parents would've told me off for it." he shuddered slightly. "My mother was a terrifying woman."

"Apology accepted, Mr Black." his face brightened. "But don't expect me to be any more than civil to you for a while." His face fell once more, and she felt an urge to retract her statement, but ignored it. He nodded his head and left the room. After finishing off three cups of coffee, and greeting everyone except Potter (who had yet to leave his room), Genni headed to the sunroom to await the Malfoys.

"Mother, stop fussing." Draco Malfoy's voice broke through the mid morning silence. Fed up with his mother's attempts to slick back his un-gelled hair, he stepped away from her and headed towards the door of Snape Manor.

"Draco."

He sighed, already exasperated beyond belief, and turned to find out what the problem was. Raising an eyebrow, he simply looked at his mother, before she muttered "Never mind." and followed him. They approached the door, preparing to knock but were beaten to it by the seemingly over-efficient William, who opened the door. He greeted them, then lead them to the sunroom, where the lady of the manor was sitting in a lounge, seemingly oblivious to anything around her. Seeing that William was about to announce their presence, Draco shook his head, indicating that there would be no need. The man simply smiled and left the room. Draco took the opportunity to study the young woman, who still seemed unaware of the presence of the two purebloods. That same piece of hair from the day before had fallen over her face, which was half in shadow. She seemed completely at ease, and Draco thought to himself once more how beautiful she was when she wasn't glaring at him or eyeing him warily. 'But then again,' he thought to himself, 'there is something rather appealing about her when she's worked up as well. She gets that look, her eyes light up, and you just _know_ she'll hex your bits off if you push her too far. I do love to see her worked up like that.' Smiling, he decided that he'd love to see her worked up right now, so instead of politely clearing his throat to let her know she had company, he decided instead to say "Honey, I'm home. And look who's come for dinner." He watched, as she almost jumped from the chair, eyes blazing.

"_Mal_.." she started to growl, but upon seeing Mrs Malfoy, she quickly altered her tone and choice of words. "Draco. Mrs Malfoy, how lovely to see you again. I'll just get William." she smiled, then indicated for them to follow as she left the room, her book laying forgotten on the floor. Inwardly seething at the Malfoy heir, she almost ran into the man in question. "William, just the man I was looking for. We need to go to my father's private library. If you could lead the way?" The tone of her voice and set of her shoulders told the older man that she wasn't in a good mood.

"Of course, miss. Please follow me. I'll ensure that you're left alone, and bring refreshments." he smiled slightly at her before leading the way. A few minutes (and many hallways) later, they arrived in front of a blackwood door, and William indicated that Draco should be the one to open it. As soon as he placed his hand on the knob, he jerked it away again, cursing.

"Draco! Language!" his mother chastised, but Draco wasn't listening.

"The bloody door bit me!"

"Bit you?" Genni asked, her confusion echoed by Draco's mother. "How can a door bite you? It's just a door."

"I don't know how, but it bloody bit me." he replied, holding out his hand for her to examine. Sure enough, there were two small puncture marks where his thumb joined his palm. Shaking her head, she moved to the door and examined the knob; where there should have been a normal brass knob a silver snake, coiled around itself, sat.

"There's your answer, the knob is a snake. I guess it's blood warded." she said, turning back towards Draco in time to see his mother heal the small wound.

"Thanks for the warning, Uncle Sev." he said, looking to the ceiling. After many reassurances that the snake wouldn't bite him again, they entered the room and Genni let out a low whistle. Bookshelves lined two walls, floor to ceiling, and full of the oldest tomes on magic. French doors, set directly across from the door, opened onto a courtyard. Bay windows to either side, complete with padded window seats, filled the room with light, making the room seem even larger. Shaking her head at the man's impeccable taste, Genni headed straight through the french doors, to investigate the courtyard. It was breathtaking; a natural stone water feature was surrounded by padded outdoor chairs, the entire courtyard closed off by walls, which were cover with various creepers and vines, making it seem like a tropical paradise. The roof high above seemed to made of mesh, and birds of paradise were flying around, filling the space with their melodious songs and spectacular colour. Genni knew then that she would be spending as much time here as possible. Grinning widely, she headed back into the library, to invite Mrs Malfoy to join her.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Hi again! sorry it's been a little while, but this time of year is just so hectic! I've been asked a few Q's about SD, so I thought I'd answer some of them now.

Q Did Hermione survive the attack by LV?

A No, Hermione ad genni didn't survive; you might say they prevented Harry from dying, but the attack was still on Harry.

Q When will we hear the 'true' prophesy?

A Not for a while, it will appear in the chapter where Dumbledore is finally confronted.

Q What is the story about/where are you going with it?

A The story is about redemption and family; the Potters trying to adjust to being a family once more, and the Malfoys and Dumbledore trying to redeem themselves due to the mistakes they've made.

Well I hope that clears a few things up for you all! Just to let you know, this is going to be an EPIC LENGTH FIC! So alot of that will be a long time coming. A special shout-out to AuntLynnie for her much appreciated review. Anyway, on with the story! As always, please R&R.

**Chapter 18: Camaraderie; A Malfoy Understanding**

As she stepped back through the french doors, Genni layed eyes on Mrs Malfoy and gasped, her hand subconsciously reaching up in an attempt to smother the sound. As the older woman turned towards her, Genni gasped once more as the full extent of what she had seen became apparent; marring the normally perfect woman's face was a bruise, blooming magnificently around her left eye. Judging by the color, it was a fairly recent injury, in the shape of a fist. Instead of answering the inquiring look she was given, Genni turned her attention to her housemate; he too had a bruise, the shape and color eerily similar to that of his mother's, this time marring the otherwise perfectly pale skin of his jaw. A small split on his lower lip was only beginning to scab; further evidence of how recently the injury had been obtained. Shock coursed through her, but instead of it rendering her mute (which would have served her well in this situation) she found words spilling from her mouth, without having been censored by her mind.

"You've been hit! Both of you!"

Startled by her words, Narcissa simply stared, her eyes darting from the young woman to her son and back, before lowering herself onto one of the window seats. Draco looked only to his mother, and noting the previously glamored bruise appearing quite obvious against her otherwise pale skin, swore under his breath and began looking for a mirror. After finding one in the room and noting that his previously glamored injury was also now visible, he cursed Severus and his paranoia and began to pace the breadth of the room, stopping periodically to run his hand through his now disheveled hair and swear some more. Confused by his behavior Genni walked over to him, reaching him as he yet again stopped his pacing, and placed her hand on his shoulder. Draco violently shook off the hand, regretting having done so almost instantly; the hurt look on Genni's face making his gut clench. Sighing in defeat, Draco lead Genni out to the courtyard, after sparing his mother a glance full of guilt.

He sat Genni down on one of the chairs, grabbed another and sat on it facing her, close enough to grab her hands in his. When he looked up, his haunted eyes caught hers. She felt as though she were in some kind of trance; she desperately wanted to look away from his eyes, so full of fear and desperation, but found she was unable to tear herself away. When he spoke, his voice was thick with both the emotions so clear in his eyes, and the seriousness of the situation. "You can't tell anyone." She opened her mouth to refute this, to tell him that he had to speak out; if not for himself, than at least for the sake of his mother. He cut her off before even a sound could leave her lips. "If anyone knew...it wouldn't make a difference." He sighed heavily and finally tore his gaze from her, to look up at the birds flying freely overhead. She noticed the bags under his eyes, the sickly pallor of his skin. The strain was getting to him, that much was obvious without the glamor charms he evidently used to hide it. She wondered for a moment if anyone else had noticed the changes in him; surely his friends would know if he'd changed enough for even _her_ to have noticed. 'Then again,' she thought 'this is probably the first time either of them have been seen _without_ a glamor on.' His tired voice broke her out of her internal musings. "Actually, it _would_ make a difference; it'd get worse." He sighed once more, looking back through the doors to the library, where his mother was probably trying to reapply the glamor. "It's her I worry about. If I'm not there, he takes it all out on her; that's why I wanted to go home the other night."

"So it's your father." she said, disgusted at both the man's actions, and the fact that she had riled him up enough for him to take it out on his family.

"Don't get me wrong," He said, once more cutting her off before she could speak her apology, "it's not your fault, and I was glad to be away for a night. To be _safe_ for a night, but I was worried about her." He turned back to her, desperation in his eyes once more. "Please, don't say anything. I'm sorry to dump this on you, but no one else can know; no one outside of us is _supposed_ to know. Please." Stunned by the situation, as well as both his desperation and the fact that he had once again been kind to her, she nodded her agreement. He smiled his thanks, and Genni was surprised that he hadn't asked for the vow. He got up to leave, but Genni grabbed his hand, turning him back to her. "I won't say anything, but if you or your mother want to get away, you're always welcome here." The relief on his face was enough to bring a small smile to her own. "Now, let's get that bruise fixed."

After ensuring that both Draco and Narcissa's injuries were properly healed, they spent the rest of the day in the library. Genni found that Draco's study habits quite easily rivaled her own, and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he had inherited that particular trait from his mother. Narcissa was a wonderful, easy-going person away from her husband, and once Draco had buried his head in a particularly old book (to the point where even physically trying to get his attention only resulted in a grunt) the two women sat for hours, talking of their respective times at Hogwarts. Far too soon for any of the trio's liking, it was late afternoon, and the Malfoy's had to return home. After a hasty trip out of the manor (where Genni seemed quite desperate to not be seen) they parted with a promise that they would meet again in two days. After seeing them off, Genni returned to the sunroom, reminiscing about the unexpectedly delightful day. The only interruption to the sudden and rather unexpected camaraderie with Narcissa Malfoy, had been in the form of William. He came in at lunch, tray laden with sandwiches and juice, setting it out on one of the tables. Under the pretense of inspecting what was on offer, Genni approached him intending to inquire about her other guests. William, having expected this, simply smiled and walked to the door, saying "Everything is being taken care of, miss." He smiled at her once more before he left. Genni, deciding that Draco had spent long enough reading for the time being, dragged him out of his chair and into the courtyard, sitting him down next to his mother. Narcissa simply smiled at the antics of the two young adults; Draco had whined all the way, and Genni had simply smiled and shook her head at him. At some point during their lunch, the backhanded compliments and loathsome glares that were the usual way in which Draco and Genni communicated (on the very rare occasions that they had) had somehow become friendly and light-hearted. By the end of the meal, they had both found that they enjoyed each other's company, when they weren't acting like the adversaries they usually were at school. After they had eaten, Draco (having quickly wolfed down his share of the meal, and spent the rest of the time alternating between joining the conversation and staring longingly at the book he had been forced to abandon) sprinted back into the library, much to the amusement of his mother and housemate. The two women had then spent the afternoon talking about their favorite books. Much to both their surprise, they had similar tastes.

Genni was jolted from her reminiscing by the sound of footsteps thundering down the stairs. Looking out the window at the already twilight sky, she realised it was time for dinner; her other guests would be expecting her. Walking into the dining room, she knew straight away that someone was missing. All through the rather tense dinner, she waited for a head of messy black hair to appear, however it seemed that Potter was not yet ready to face the crowd. As everyone stood to leave, she grabbed Sirius and pulled him to the side, waiting for the room to clear. Once it had, she grabbed a plate of food that she had set aside, pushing into his chest.

"I don't know if you noticed sunshine, but I've already eaten." he looked at her in confusion. She sighed; it was evident that this man needed everything spelt out for him.

"Since Potter didn't show up for dinner, I figure he must be hungry. This is for him."

"Oh." he looked at her, suspicion written all over his face. "Why don't you take it to him, then?" She looked at him, and sighed once more. 'He really is thick.' she thought, realizing that she'd never met someone so completely clueless before.

"Because he obviously doesn't want to see anyone right now. He's dealing with a lot of stuff; seeing me will probably only make it worse."

"Oh."

"Yes 'oh'." she snapped, having lost her patience about two oh's ago. "Just give him the food, Mr Black."

"Okay, _Miss Snape_. I'll give him the food." He turned and walked away, but stopped at the door, quietly saying "Thanks." before heading upstairs. Genni eyed her now cold tea, which had been left on the table, untouched. Sighing, she banished the cup to the kitchen, before heading upstairs and falling into her bed fully clothed.

Downstairs in the kitchen, a man cursed as a cup of tea appeared, untouched by the intended drinker. Pulling out a vial from his pocket, he drank it's contents and settled in for what was sure to be a long night.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: As always, please R&R! (Cause reviews make my new muse dance in tap shoes lol)

**Chapter 19: Magic Maelstrom**

In a dilapidated manor many miles away, a man was laying on the cold, hard floor twitching violently. Gasping in the air his body had been deprived of just moments ago, he struggled to his knees, begging his master's forgiveness. His master, thoroughly displeased with this particular man's latest failure just sneered before once again raising his wand and applying the torture curse. The other men in the room watched as the man writhed in pain on the floor once more, his screams tearing his already hoarse throat apart, while their master simply watched on in amusement. Lifting the curse once the man had lost control of his bodily functions, the Dark Lord stood, staring down at the man who was now on his knees, groveling at his master's feet.

"You disappoint me, Lucius."

"I know, master. I am sorry, master."

The Dark Lord circled his follower, eying the man as a predator would eye it's prey. Without warning he dropped down beside the man, lifting his head by the chin to force their eyes to meet. His face changed, from that of a predator to a (sort of) caring one. This time when he spoke, he voice was almost fatherly. "I know you are sorry, Lucius." His free hand came up to stroke the long, blonde locks of hair laying limply around the death eater's face. "I know you are. You have always been most loyal, Lucius. Most useful." He stood up, throwing the man's chin away from his hand, as though it was somehow unclean. "But you have failed me once more!" The tone, sharp and cold once more, excited the others in the room. They now knew that his reprieve had only been temporary. "And I do not reward failure, Lucius. _Crucio_!" The blonde man's screams once again filled the air, as he collapsed to floor.

Once he had finished punishing his follower, the Dark Lord strode to his personal rooms; robes billowing out behind him in a way which would have made even Severus Snape envious. Opening the door, he headed straight for his personal study; the mirror laying on the desk his intended destination. Snatching the mirror up, he seated himself in one of the recliners. He tapped the mirror's surface with his wand, and upon seeing images appearing he smiled to himself, his previously foul mood immediately forgotten. He pulled out a vial from one of the many pockets of his robes, pouring some of the red substance contained within onto the mirror, and began to chant in parseltongue. His red eyes slowly rolled back into his head, and a vindictive smile appeared on his normally furious face. This was the first night she had dreamt, and he planned to make the most of it.

Many hours later, a man in black robes and silver mask appeared in the entrance of Malfoy manor, the master of the house in his arms. Narcissa and Draco, having been alerted by the many wards, entered the room to find Lucius Malfoy in a heap on the floor. Narcissa ran to her husband's prone form, pulling her wand out and beginning to cast several healing spells to stabilize him. As the other man turned to leave, he felt a hand on his arm. Looking down, he saw Draco give him an inquiring look. "Cruciatus. Four hours straight." the man grunted, before striding out the front door, as though nothing unusual had occurred.

Shaking slightly, Draco closed the front door behind the man, and turned to see his mother's frantic wand-waving. His father appeared to be unconscious; his body's constant twitching and the shallow rise and fall of his chest the only signs that he was even alive.

"How bad?" His mother's shaking voice pulled him from his observations.

"Four straight hours of Cruciatus. I doubt he'll make it through the night. Now that Uncle Sev..." He trailed off, still not quite ready to admit out loud that his godfather was gone.

"Didn't he have some potions in his private stores at the manor?"

Without bothering to answer, Draco ran to the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder and spilling most of it in his haste. Silently praying that he would still be able to access his godfather's rooms, he threw in the powder and stepped into the flames. "Master Snape's room, Snape manor!"

He arrived in his godfather's bedroom disorientated, and hit his head on his way out of the fireplace. Rubbing his head and trying to regain his shattered equilibrium, he headed across the room, viciously beating back the feelings of nostalgia that were threatening to keep him from his task. Grabbing the silver knife from the bedside table, he pierced the skin of his ring finger, and pressed it to the wall beside the bathroom door. As the hidden archway, reminiscent of Diagon Alley's started to appear, he threw the knife back towards the table, not caring if it landed on his intended target or not. He dove through when the archway was only half open, tucking himself into a half-ball and rolling as he impacted the floor. Standing up, he frantically searched the shelves for the vials of healing, relaxing, nerve repair and dreamless sleep potions he required. As he closed his hand around the first (nerve repair) a scream echoed through the otherwise silent night, startling him. As the vial dropped from his hand and shattered on the floor, he realised that the sound was coming from the room next to this one; the room where Genni was staying. His head started to swing back and forth, between the now fully open archway (and the room beyond) and the shelves full of vials that he had come for. He was faced with a dilemma; should he grab the vials he needed and leave, or go and see what was happening to the young woman he had started to enjoy spending time with. His decision was made for him, when just a moment later uncontrolled magic slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. His father could wait; Genni needed help. He waited for the wave of magic to pass, before jumping to his feet and running for the main door. Once he reached it, he threw it open, not realizing that in his haste, he had opened the door directly into the face of one Sirius Black. The hallway was chaotic; everyone had heard her scream and run to her room, trying to figure out what was going on. Fighting his way to the front of the pack, he barely registered that Hermione Granger was standing there, wand out, before he knocked her hand, sending her wand flying.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, his voice harsh from worry about both Genni and his father.

"_I _was unlocking this door, until you so rudely knocked my wand from my hand! What exactly are _you_..."

"Never mind what I'm doing, ARE YOU INSANE! Didn't you feel that magic wave before?" He heard the panic starting to creep into his voice, and took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself.

"Of course! But what does that have to do with.."

"Just move!" he snapped, cutting her off before she could say much more. He stepped back from the door slightly, before running and slamming his shoulder against where the two doors joined. With an almighty _crack_ the wood around the lock broke, and the right side opened, forced in by Draco's momentum. What it revealed was pandemonium; a maelstrom of magic swirled around the room, picking loose objects up as it went. The sight was spectacular to behold; it was almost as if a tornado had been let loose, localized to only this room; but it was also quite dangerous. In the center of the chaos was Genni, thrashing around in the throws of an obviously vicious nightmare; her bed already starting to be lifted from the floor by the force of the raw magic her nightmare was inducing. As Lilly and Remus stepped forward, Draco stopped them. "Let me, I have experience with this kind of thing."

"_Experience_?" Hermione practically scoffed.

"My father." Draco replied quietly, before stepping into the room. He headed straight for the bed, knowing that he had to get there quickly. He hadn't been lying when he said he had experience with this sort of thing; his father's nightmares often induced a magical reaction. But he had never before seen one quite so violent. Her magic was tearing at him both physically and mentally, his feet being pulled from beneath him, while a headache had started to form the moment he had left the relative safety of the corridor. The closer he got to the bed, the worse the effects of the maelstrom became, until just feet from the bed he was reduced to crawling. Using what little strength he had left (most of it from sheer determination) he pulled himself up onto the mattress, which by now was sitting almost four feet from the base of the bed. As soon as he got onto the mattress beside the distraught young woman, everything stopped; Genni was the eye of the proverbial storm. Seeing the state that she was in, Draco knew that no amount of talking would wake her, so he did the only thing he could think of; he threw himself on top of her, wrapping his arms around her shaking form, and rolling with her as she thrashed around in sheer terror. Safely wrapped in the center of the magical storm, he didn't hear the cry of outrage that came from the one person who had been missing in action since his first night at Snape manor; Harry Potter, upon seeing Draco Malfoy on top of the girl who was supposed to be his sister, became livid. Not having been present for the first few minutes (due to tending to his godfather's broken nose) all he saw was Malfoy on top of his 'sister', who was violently thrashing around on her bed. Not having taken notice of everything else that was going on, he pulled out his wand and fired off a stunner.

Draco whispered words of safety in her ear, and after a few minutes (which seemed like hours) she finally relaxed and began to wake. It was at this point, as the magical storm dissipated and Genni began to come back to awareness, that Harry's stunner reached them. Draco, sensing that something was wrong, started to turn, when a half-awake Genni threw him down on the mattress beside her, covered his body with hers and held out her hand.


	20. Chapter 20

AN: Wow! Three chapters, almost five thousand words, in one night! Yay for me! As always, please R&R!

**Chapter 20: Raw Magic,Times Three**

A wave of barely controlled raw magic left her hand, the shockwave it created easily visible to everyone in the doorway. Most dove to the floor, instinct taking over; but Harry simply stood there as it headed straight for him. Hermione, who was closest to him, tried in vain to pull his feet from under him, but it was too late; the shockwave crashed into him, sending flying back from the door. He landed at the end of the hall, unharmed but severely shaken. He stood up and headed straight back to the door, every line on his young face visible. Rage coursed through him, searing his very veins and making his blood boil. No one moved; hit seemed that Harry had finally reached breaking point, and the purpose of his stride alone was intimidating. He reached the doorway and kept going, his long strides taking him to the bed far quicker than Draco's had earlier. Seemingly unaffected by the traces of magic still inside the room, he reached the bed a grabbed Genni, dragging her from the bed. "What the hell was that? What did he do to you?" he demanded of her, not noticing that Draco had gotten to his feet, and placed the bed between the two. As Draco pulled his wand, Harry started to gently shake Genni, demanding to know what had happened, and why Draco had been in her bed.

"Let go of her, Potter."

The sound of Draco's voice had the desired effect; Harry immediately released Genni and turned to face the other young man. His face darkened as he noticed Draco's wand trained on him.

"What did you do to her, Malfoy?" He spat, still not registering the partially destroyed room surrounding him. With the two young men eying each other off and the tension n the air growing by the second, Genni decided she had to do something. Half asleep as she was, the only thing she could think of doing was probably not the smartest idea she'd had. She walked around to Draco, placing one hand on his shoulder, and the other on his wand arm, lowering it. He glanced at her and she smiled, before she turned to Harry. "He saved me, Potter."

"_Saved you_?" Harry asked, incredulously. Before he could continue with yet another scathing remark, Mad-Eye, (who had appeared sometime during the maelstrom, having been contacted by Mooney) decided to redirect everyone's attention to the real problem. "I think it's time for some explanations, missy."

Everyone left for the family room, William in the lead. Once everyone was seated, Harry simply said "Yeah, explanations. Let's start with why the ferret's here."

All eyes turned to Genni and she, knowing that a trademark Potter explosion was coming, decided to take a cautious approach. "You all know this is Snape manor, and I'm pretty sure you've all realised that I'm his daughter." she began, noting that everyone in the room had nodded at what she'd said.

"Speaking of which, where is the overgrown bat?" snarled Harry, evidently unaware of how his words would affect the two people who were the focus of his notorious temper. Draco held his tongue, instead deciding that glaring at Potter would suffice. Genni, also glaring at him, quietly answered "He's dead. Thanks for asking." Harry, realizing his mistake, lowered his eyes to the floor. "Anyway, Malfoy's inheritance is here, and he can't remove it. He's been coming here for that."

"Malfoy?" Draco said, sounding hurt. "When did it become Malfoy again? It was Draco this afternoon."

Genni looked up at him. "I wasn't sure if you'd want everyone to know." Draco, seeing his mistake blushed a brilliant shade of pink. "Sorry." he mumbled. "I'd like to know why they're here." he gestured around the room, "But I'm certain I'd end up with a headache if I did." He looked back at Genni, who smiled at him and nodded her head in agreement. He noticed that she looked rather pale, and was about to go over to her, when Mooney's question interrupted his train of thought.

"You said you had experience with that kind of thing. What exactly was that?"

"Well, professor," he began, but Mooney cut him off.

"Please, Draco. I'm no longer your professor. Call me Remus."

Draco nodded, then continued with his explanation. "Well _Remus_, when a person has a nightmare, they usually react _physically_ to what they see. When a _magical_ person has a nightmare, they also react physically to what they see. But when a nightmare is particularly vivid or frightening, it can cause a magical person to have a magical reaction as well. In Genni's case, the nightmare was so bad that it caused a potentially catastrophic magical reaction. I know from previous experience how difficult it is to reach the person to try and wake them if there's a magical reaction. But I have to admit, I've never seen a reaction _that_ severe before."

"I see." Remus looked to be in deep thought for a moment, before he continued. "So what you're saying is, her nightmare was that realistic, that her magic was acting in an attempt to protect her?"

"Something like that."

Hermione jumped in. "But, what about what she did to Harry? That wasn't normal, was it?"

Draco thought for a moment before answering. "I honestly don't know. I've never seen anything like that before. All I can think of is that some of her magic was still available to her in raw form, and she felt the stunner coming, same as I did, and reacted to protect either herself, me as the person who was comforting her, or both." Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment, before Genni and Harry both said at the same time "But I've done that before.", and Kate Granger said "Hermione's done that before."

Everyone looked in confusion at the three, until Moody gruffly said "Explain." The two younger ones indicated that Mrs Granger should go first. "Well I remember that when Hermione was younger and something would scare her, or get her worked up, something like that would happen. Everything would start to either get really hot or really cold. Then something would happen, like her favorite teddy would come fling down the stairs, or the spider that was bothering her would fly out the window." She stopped for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before she added "There was this one time; a boy, I forget his name, was annoying her in the sandbox at the park. All of a sudden, the sand rose up from right underneath him, and carried him out of the box and to the other side of the park." She looked to Hermione, smiling. "I'd always wondered how that happened." Moody looked to Harry, who simply smiled and said "Aunt Marge, third year. You should remember that one, Mad-Eye; you're the one who got all the paperwork." Harry smiled even wider, and Mad-Eye simply grunted before turning to Genni.

"I don't know; I've always been able to do weird things like that, I guess I just stopped once I started going to Hogwarts and got my wand. Come to think of it, that's the first time I've done magic without my wand in ages. If you'll all excuse me," She said, standing and heading for the door, "I'm not feeling too..." She never finished her sentence, as without warning, she collapsed. She was almost on the floor, when Draco caught her, much to Harry's disapproval. Holding her as though she was the most precious thing in the world to him, Draco carried over to the lounge and layed her down, covering her with the blanket William handed him.

"She'll be fine, it's just magical exhaustion. She'll sleep for a while, though." he said, heading for the door. After one last look at the young woman, he went back to his godfather's rooms, collected the potions he had originally come for, and used the floo to get back to his manor; he had another person to take care of that night, although it was highly unlikely that he would enjoy helping this one quite as much as he'd enjoyed helping her.

After giving the vials of potions to his mother, and ensuring that a house elf would take care of her, he headed to the library. His godfather had once told him that everything has an explanation; you just have to find it. Finding an explanation for what had happened to Genni was exactly what he intended to do.

Back at Snape manor, after Draco had left Harry had insisted that Mad-Eye bring a healer who could be trusted to not reveal their location to Dumbledore, since he didn't trust a word that had come out of 'the ferrets' mouth. Mad-Eye had returned with a harassed looking Madam Pomphrey, who after examining Genni repeated Draco's earlier sentiments, and advised Harry that he should get some rest. Genni wouldn't wake for twenty-four hours, and during that time, she would have the strangest thing happen to her that she had ever experienced in her life.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: So very sorry to my readers that it has taken so long for me to upload another chapter, I've been having some computer problems. *glares angrily at tower and mumbles 'stupid computer ram dying'* Anyway here's the next chapter (finally) and remember to R&R. Tao  
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**Chapter 21: Founders...Father**

It is a common misconception in both the magical and mundane worlds that one has to purposely enter a trance or have a gift in order to pierce the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead. In fact, anyone is capable of doing this, however it takes an unusually jarring event to put said person in the right state of mind to do so. Genni was in exactly that state of mind when she fell unconscious. Well, I say 'she' fell unconscious. What really happened was that in her emotionally overwrought state of mind and magically exhausted body, her conscious mind slipped ever so slightly out of her body and through the veil, which had been weakened within snape manor due to her magical outburst. The result? Her body lay unconscious, while her mind travelled to the other realm- a place where past, present and future coincide and the dead commune.

As she opened her eyes to mist-filled darkness that seemed to go on eternally, Genni registered voices- both familiar and not- off in the not too distant darkness. Although her first instinct should have been fear that she had awoken in a strange place with none of her friends surrounding her, she somehow instinctively knew that she was completely safe here, and that once she had found what she was looking for, ("And isn't that strange? A moment ago I didn't know I was looking for anything! Oh well.") she would be returned to snape manor with her friends by her side. Allowing her instincts to direct her, Genni started towards the voices in the distance, taking note as she went that she didn't need to walk in this strange place, she simply had to think of moving forward and the mist seemed to carry her there. She looked around trying to see if she could make out any landmarks through the mist, but could see nothing, until suddenly she came to a stop.

The mist in front of her parted, showing her a most miraculous sight- Severus Snape stood in front of her, (the spitting image of the last time she'd seen him alive on the last day of term at Hogwarts) seemingly arguing with four people of an unknown (but obviously very advanced) age. The two men were dressed in what appeared to be old fashioned (even by wizarding standards) robes and tunics. One was seemingly the epitome of every Gryffindor- bold and brash. He stood around 5'10, his raven locks tumbling unhindered down his back. His booming voice could be heard trying to override the entire conversation that was taking place, his hand and arms gesturing wildly as he tried to get his point across, causing his gaudishly bright robes (magenta and yellow with- were those rubies and amythysts?- on the trim.

On his left, A portly woman -barely 5'1- wearing robes of deepest black with soft yellow accents- folded her arms across her rather well endowed chest and shook her head in what seemed to be frustration, causing her grey-blond locks (rather short for a woman) to cascade over her round cheeks and into her eyes. With a clearly audible huff (which was quite an accomplishment considering the noise of the Gaudily-clad Gryffindoresque man) she blew the soft bangs back. Skipping over the man next to her, Severus (Genni wanted to spend as long as possible studying him) her attention tuned to the other woman, directly across from the still extravagantly gesturing man.

This woman seemed to be just as adamant in what she was saying, but was much more controlled- the taught stance of her easily 6 foot frame and tightening of her fists the only physical indications of her frustration. Her sleek black locks were tied with a ribbon, the blue of which matched her robes perfectly. There was no trim on her robes, and the only accessory she wore was a burnished bronze tiara which balanced perfectly on the crown of her head. She slightly reminded Genni of those girls you see in old deportment videos with books on their heads- spine straight, shoulders back, head up, posture perfect.

Behind Severus (who she was saving for last) Genni observed the other man that made up the last of the quartet talking to her father. He would normally have been quite inconspicuous- under any other circumstances he wouldn't have been noticed over the others- but in such a strange place, his quiet demeanor only served to make him stand out more. He had raven-black hair like the other two men, but his was tied back in a style similar to what Lucius Malfoy would wear. His Emerald green robes had a pattern of silver running throughout, which joined with the all silver trim to create a stunning but understated look of elegance. He looked at first glance to be bored and ignoring the conversation, but a closer look told Genni that he was simply sitting back, biding his time until the others ran out of steam.

Now her eyes drifted to the last member of the odd quintet- her father, Severus Snape. At first glance she had thought he looked exactly as he had on the last day of term, but a closer inspection proved her wrong. It was true that he looked similar- his raven black locks still tied back at the nape of his neck, his onyx eyes still taking in every detail without giving anything but derision away, his nose as prominent as ever- but there were subtle differences. His stance -no longer as domineering- was much more relaxed. His skin not as pallid. His eyes not quite as cold. Then he smiled and threw his head back, laughing. She gasped, the noise travelling across the small distance between her and the group, finally alerting them to the presence of another.

"Well well" the Gryffindor wanna-be practically shouted, his overly load and jovial voice causing Genni to wince, "What do we have here?"

The raven haired woman snorted, before replying in a tone reminiscent of Narcissa Malfoy at her snooty best, "It's a girl, Godric. Have you not got eyes?"

At this, the blonde woman stifled a giggle, while the man, (Godric?) looked outraged and replied in a huff, "Well of course, I can see that Ro, what I'd like to know is what the girl is doing here."

Once more the blonde woman stifled a giggle, and the quiet man at the back finally spoke. His voice seemed almost musical. It was a refined, high class voice, but much more melodic and soothing than most of the snooty so-called 'high class' wizards she was used to hearing. "Obviously," he began, drawing the word out in what seemed to be an almost perfect imitation of her father's drawl, "this _living _girl has been drawn through the veil to commune with us, Godric."

"Living girl? Oh the poor dear must be scared out of her mind!" the blonde one stated, turning towards Genni with a look and the sound so reminiscent of her mother- no, Marian- that she almost expected her to come and smother her in a suffocating hug.

"Living girl?" Godric stated almost at the same time. "But what would a living girl want with the four founders?"

"The four founders? You're the four founders?" Genni whispered in disbelief. As the four nodded and smiled, she realised what she should have known at first sight. The portly blonde woman- must be Helga Hufflepuff- dressed in the black and yellow of her namesake house. Turning to the raven haired beauty and looking at the colours on her -blue and a bronze tiara- Rowena Ravenclaw. The gaudy man whom she'd been thinking of as a wanna-be Gryffindor was actually _the_ Godric Gryffindor. Which meant... her eyes travelled to the tastefully dressed man and widened in shock, Salazar Slytherin, the man whom her house was named after. The man who supposedly had first valued the attributes for which she was placed there. As she stared at them in shock and awe, a slight cough sounded and a voice she had thought she'd never hear again drawled "And what am I? Chopped rat spleen?"

She turned and faced Severus Snape, looking into his eyes for the first time as a daughter looking at her father. Although she had hardly known the man in life, and although she was not usually one for publically displaying her emotions, tears gathered in her eyes and a smile lit up her normally plain face, transforming her once more into the red haired beauty that Draco Malfoy so often saw. She whispered just one word. "Father."

Severus Snape looked at his daughter's face as she eyed the founders in awe and wonder. _'I wonder if that's what she looked like the first time she saw magic.' _he thought to himself as her eyes finally alighted upon the visage of Slytherin. After a few moments he realised that she was unlikely to draw her gaze from the man without a distraction. A wicked smirk crossed his face, reminiscent of his youthful prankster days against James Potter and his Gryffindor flunkies as he thought of a way to gain her attention. Choosing his tone carefully- bored drawl with just a hint of humour- he cleared his throat with a small cough and said "And what am I? Chopped rat spleen?" He carefully watched as his daughter- _his daughter_- turned to face him. As her eyes rose to his, there seemed to be a moment of recognition, of emotional connection, and he realised that they were looking at each other as father and daughter for the first time with _both_ of them knowing the truth. He noticed tears filling her eyes, and felt concerned that perhaps she wasn't happy with knowledge. But then her face lit up with the most beautiful, joy-filled smile he'd ever seen on her face and the most wonderful word came whispering from her lips. A word filled with such emotion- which caused such long ignored emotion in him to swell and break- that he knew this was the best moment he would ever experience. A moment he would re-live in his memories for all of eternity. The first time his daughter called him..."Father."

His face broke into the biggest smile possible.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Hi again guys! I was completely stunned at how many of you read the last chapter- almost as soon as it was uploaded! No reviews however =( PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I absolutely LOVE to know what the readers think, and I'd love suggestions. I don't even mind criticism. Do you like the story? Love it? Loathe it? Then let me know! I'm also STILL looking for a beta, so if you're interested let me know. This chapter is longer than the last (yay for me!) and brings in some of the supporting characters. There's also a surprise from Ron (for those of you who love Ron, please don't kill me) that's it for now. Oh, and I might just be uploading another chapter later on today (or tonight or early tomorrow depending on where you are in the world) so keep your eyes open for it! Thanks again for taking the time to read SD and as always enjoy! Tao  
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**Chapter 22: Internal Monologues**

As Genni realised what she had just called her former head of house, she briefly feared his reaction. Watching his face split into a wide smile- much wider than she had thought possible- was therefor a relief. She once again felt indecision come over her- what did one say to the father who had died before you got to know them? And was it possible for her to physically interact with him in this place?- before all her doubts were swept away as her father swept her into his arms and held her, silent tears running down his face. She briefly registered the founders in the background- Slytherin and Ravenclaw smiling, while Hufflepuff and Gryffindor oohed and awed at the sight- before she allowed herself to be completely swept up in the feeling of her first hug from her father. They clung to one another tightly for what seemed like an eternity to them (which in reality was only a minute or two) neither willing or able to let go of the other, for fear that this was not really happening.

Finally, Severus loosened his hold- enough to be able to see her face, not enough to let go of her- and simply stared at her, as if trying to memorize every minute detail of her face. Genni- having already studied him quite intensely- gently released her hands from around his neck and tentatively reached for his face. His eyes never moved from hers as she gently wiped the tears from his cheeks, and she whispered "This isn't real, is it?"

Severus thought for a moment, his brow furrowing, as he contemplated how to answer her question without taking away the heartfelt meaning in this long overdue moment. Finally, he sighed and released his hold on her, leaving one hand on her shoulder as if he were afraid that if he did not maintain contact she would disappear. "Genni, this is the other side of the veil, also known as purgatory. So to answer your question; to your body- to your friends and classmates- no, this isn't real. To me and to you- yes, this is real. Very real, and I've waited such a long time for this." He smiled at her gently, a plea in his eyes for her to understand. She thought carefully for a moment, her brow furrowing in the same way as his, before replying.

"So basically, this _is_ real, but my friends will think I've dreamt it?"

"Exactly," he said, his smile reaching his eyes once more. "Now I'm afraid that our time here is limited, and the founders and I have some things we need to speak with you about, to share with you." He noticed that when he said founders, her gazed flickered quickly to Slytherin, a hunger in her eyes- a hunger he recognized from his teaching days- one only present when she had questions and wanted answers. "And I'm guessing you have some questions you'd like to ask Slytherin?" he said, startling her with his amused tone of voice. She blushed slightly and nodded her head, wondering if she was always that easily read, or if it was just the unusual circumstances. Severus turned and started towards the founders taking Genni with him, his hand never leaving her shoulder -whether this was for her comfort or his own, she was unsure.

Back on the mortal plane, Ron and Ginny Weasley were playing a game of exploding snap in the family room of Grimmauld place. Every now and then they would shoot their father a dark look, as if hoping to guilt him into telling them what they wanted to know. He had been with the group of adults who had followed Hermione to her parent's house and who had later returned. The two red heads wanted to know what had happened, but Sirius and Hermione had simply packed their belongings, grabbed Harry and his, and disappeared. Some time later that night, they went to ask their father what was going on, only to see him in a whispered but seemingly urgent conversation with Moody. When they had finally gotten the man alone and tried to question him, all they were told was that Severus Snape was dead and that it was important that Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Remus went away for a while. He would give them nothing more, no matter how much they begged and pleaded.

Ginny simply wanted to know what was going on. She felt that she had proven herself during the fiasco at the department of mysteries two years ago. Sirius had been hit by a spell cast by his evil relative, Bellatrix. As he fell backwards- towards the veiled archway in the center of the room- she felt that she had to stop him. She burst from her hiding spot and ran to him with the speed that only the desperate can achieve. Throwing a spell- she still couldn't remember what it was- over her shoulder in Bellatrix's direction, she grabbed his outstretched hand with her own, pulling him forwards onto both the floor and herself. It wasn't until later that night- once everything had calmed down- that they found out that Ginny had actually saved his life. She thought that would have proven to everyone that she was invaluable, and it was true that since then she had been privy to a lot more of the happenings within the order. Yet here she was, left in the dark- again! Ginny Weasley was simply furious, but she kept that fact relatively hidden, her dark looks the only sign.

Ron was just as furious as his sister, though it was for an entirely different reason. Ron Weasley was jealous. Not of being left out of the loop, though truth be told he was a little hurt by that fact. No, Ron was jealous of Harry. And Hermione. Alone. Together. Somewhere secret. Without him there to regulate their interaction. Simply put, he was certain that Harry- no matter how much he had insisted in the past that he would never do such a thing to his best friend- was going to hook up with Hermione. It wasn't that Ron was in love with her,- far from it- but he was afraid of failing Dumbledore in his secret mission. Dumbledore had given it to him at the beginning of last year. He was to ensure that Harry and Hermione never became anything more than friends. So far he had succeeded- Hermione seemed to be very interested in him, in spite of how close she and Harry were. But that was exactly the problem; they _were_ close. Very close. And right now they were off at some undisclosed location without him there to make sure that they didn't get any closer. He sighed, deciding that if for some reason they_ had_ become more than friends during this little adventure of theirs, he would simply have to come between them. His path forward decided, Ron brought his attention back to the cards.

Arthur Weasley sat in one of the more comfortable chairs in the family room of Grimmauld, watching his two youngest children shooting him dirty looks. He knew why they were angry with him- they wanted information about what had happened at Hermione's house, and what was currently happening with their friends- but he was too conflicted to even begin trying to decide if he should tell them anything. He knew what Mad-Eye had told him- if he wanted to tell them anything more than what he had already said, it had to be a lie. He didn't want to lie to his children, but he also knew that until he had sorted out how he felt about this whole mess, he couldn't tell them the truth either. He felt like he was betraying his children. And not just his children- he was unable to tell his wife anything either. In over thirty years of marriage, he had never kept anything from the woman who was his soul mate. Until now. She was going to be furious when she found out. But that was exactly why she couldn't know- not yet. She would rant and rave at him for having kept something this important from her, and that was fine. But once she had finished with him, she would turn on Dumbledore, and that wasn't. Just thinking about what the older man was in for once Molly Weasley found out about all of this was enough to make him shudder. His other two children in the room- Fred and George- turned to him, their eyebrows raised in concern at the sudden and unexpected action. He simply waved off their concerns, returning to his internal monologue.

Albus Dumbledore.

Arthur was now very conflicted in his thoughts about the man he had trusted so fully, and followed so blindly. Before the revelations at the Grangers, Arthur would have done anything the man asked of him. But now... well he doubted he'd ever follow anything the man said without questioning his motives. Although Arthur was sure that Dumbledore had done everything for a reason- a _good _reason- his own beliefs couldn't allow him to justify what the man had done. Arthur believed that families should stay together. _Always_. Unless there was an extremely good reason to not, like in Sirius' case. Dumbledore had torn apart a family. And not just any family either. He thought about Harry and Hermione. Those two were like his own children- he thought of them as such- and if anyone had done to his family what Dumbledore had done to theirs... he shook with his rage, his fists clenching. Put quite simply, _that _was the reason that Arthur was so conflicted about this. He had always trusted Albus' judgment in the past, believing that no matter the means used, he was doing everything for the right reasons. Now he wasn't so sure. Did whatever end Dumbledore hoped to achieve by having done this justify the means used to achieve it? Realizing that until everything came out and Dumbledore explained himself he wouldn't get any answers, Arthur excused himself from the room and went to bed for yet another sleepless night.

Meanwhile at Snape manor, Lilly was suffering with her own internal monologue. Hers wasn't centered around a certain headmaster though. Her thoughts were about her children. Worry for her eldest daughter- currently laying unconscious- worry for her son- who had stalked off to brood in his room once more- and worry for her youngest daughter- who was currently trying to get her attention. Sarah had been asking what exactly was going on ever since they had unpacked their first day here. Lilly- who had at that stage still been trying to sort out her feelings- had brushed her off, promising to explain everything later. Her daughter- not one to be brushed off lightly- had decided that later meant every time they were alone together. And so the constant cycle of Sarah questioning her mother had begun. But every time Sarah had asked her to explain, Lilly had something else on her mind. First there had been the disastrous dinner their first night- Lilly and Sarah had gone to their rooms, and Sarah had wanted to know why her mother was so upset. Lilly had brushed her off, telling her it was time for bed. Then the next morning after breakfast, Sarah had asked what was going on. Lilly- who had been concerned about her son being absent from the meal- had brushed her off once more, telling her daughter that she needed more time to sort out how she was going to explain everything.

Now Genni had had a rather violent nightmare, magical reaction and had exhausted herself. Her other daughter, Hermione had seemed put-out by the Malfoy boys' knowledge of what to do, and her son had let his temper and displeasure be known by everyone in the house and gone back to brooding once everything had calmed down. She was extremely worried about Harry. No matter how many times her old friend Remus had assured her that brooding alone was how Harry usually dealt with unexpected upheaval in his life, she still worried that her son's behavior was both unusual and unhealthy.

Her old friends... there was another dilemma for her. How to reconnect with Remus and Sirius after such a long time. Her youngest daughter's insistent voice broke through her internal thoughts. Realizing that she could not put off this conversation any longer, Lilly sighed and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, to be dwelt upon later. She looked at Sarah's face. She was the spitting image of her father, with not a single trace of her mother in her, physically at least. She did have her mother's temperament and thirst for knowledge however, and Lilly knew just from seeing the determined look in her daughter's eyes that if _she _did not give her daughter the answers she was seeking, Sarah would look elsewhere for them. Sarah was just like her in that facet- if she wanted answers, she would get them one way or another. Lilly didn't particularly like the idea of Sirius being the one to explain to her daughter about magic. She honestly adored the man, but knew that the first thing he would do to prove to her that magic was real would be to pull a prank on someone. Probably her. Her wand hand twitched at the thought of the retribution she would love give him if he did pull a prank on her. She sighed wistfully- what she wouldn't give to have her wand right now. Dumbledore probably had it. Her face twisted into a snarl, full of anger at just the thought of the man.

Once more Sarah's voice broke through her thoughts, this time full of concern at the look on her mother's face. Preparing herself mentally for the rather difficult conversation ahead, Lilly gathered her thoughts once more and turned to her youngest daughter.

Sirius was in a rather difficult predicament of his own- trying to calm his still furious godson. Harry had stalked to his room not long after madame Pomphrey had left, and- ever the dutiful godfather- Sirius had followed him. Harry had left the door open, knowing his godfather would follow him and allow him to vent his frustrations without interrupting. As soon as the door had closed behind the older man, Harry had let rip about every thing; from his confusion and frustration over Lilly being alive to what exactly Malfoy had been doing in _his sister's_ room in the middle of the night. Harry's tirade about the unfairness of it all continued while Sirius pondered Harry's words. _His sister's _room. Evidently his godson had at least started to accept the fact that he had siblings, even if in his current state it was more of a subconscious recognition than anything else. This was a good sign- for both Harry and Lilly- that eventually his godson would try to bond with his family.

"Have you even heard a word I've said?" Harry's fuming voice broke through his internal musing.

"Not really, no." he began, sensing that he needed to be cautious in his approach with his still furious godson. "I was actually thinking about something you said before."

Harry, who had been opening his mouth to tell his godfather off, stopped before cautiously replying "What?"

Sirius sighed. He had wanted to be honest with his godson about why he hadn't been listening to his rant, but he hadn't expected the young boy- no, man- to question him on it. He had expected Harry to just keep going, as though he had indeed been listening the whole time. He knew his godson was waiting for an answer, but he also knew that he would have to be careful with what he said, or the young man's temper would resurface. He sighed once more. Remus was the one who was good at this treading the line stuff, not him. He looked at Harry- noting the determined stance- and resigned himself to having to answer. He gathered his thoughts, and decided on an honest but cautious approach. "Did you realise that you said Malfoy was in your sister's room?" he asked, his voice gentle.

"Of course I realise I said that. And it's true- he was in her room! What that ferret was even doing in the _house_ in the middle of the night, let alone in her room..." the younger man's furious voice trailed off into mutters about _ferret _this and _Malfoy_ that. Sirius realised that Harry didn't recognize the significance. He decided that trying to be like his good friend Mooney wasn't working for him. He couldn't lead Harry to his own answers and realizations like the soft spoken werewolf. Time for the Sirius approach then- straight forward.

"No Harry," he began, cutting off his godson's muttering. "You actually said the words _my sister's room._"

"yeah I already said that I.." Harry began before the animagus' words fully registered. "Oh. I did say that, didn't I?" he said, looking sheepishly at Sirius. The man simply smiled at his godson, as realization flooded his features. He waited, knowing that Harry was finally going to start talking about what was really bothering him. Harry's question therefor, shocked him.

"Speaking of my sister, what is going on with you?"

Sighing once more, the animagus settled in for what was going to be a long and uncomfortable conversation. "Well cub..."


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Here it is guys- the next chapter of SD. So glad I could bring it to you all so soon =) once again loving how many of you are reading the story, but really wish I was getting some reviews! I guess the number of you reading it says that you like it, but I'd like to know what you think of the story so far! (and what you thought about Ron's little mission) STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA! anyone interested? let me know. anyway, thanks again to everyone for taking the time to read SD and as always, enjoy! Tao  
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**Chapter 23: Two; breakfasts and prophesies**

Breakfast the next morning was a tense affair in both Snape manor and Grimmauld place. In the dining room of the former, everyone other than Genni (who was sill unconscious) had gathered together, and the tension in the air was palpable. Mad-Eye Moody watched them all, looking for signs of an outburst to come, his magical eye whizzing this way and that in an attempt to keep watch over everyone at the same time. A thoughtful look on the face of the youngest person caught his attention. It was Sarah, and she was staring intently at the young man across from her, as if the force of her gaze alone might unravel the mystery that was her older brother.

Her mother had finally explained every thing to her the night before, and she had gone to bed with her mind spinning with the knowledge that magic was real and that her mother was a witch. This morning when she had woken up, her thoughts had turned to the other revelation- that the young man sitting across from her, the bushy haired girl sitting (more like sulking) at the end of the table, and the red haired girl who looked just like her mother were in fact her older siblings. Older siblings who had been kept from her and her mother by a man named Dumbledore. Young Sarah was furious with this unknown man for tearing her family apart. Her mother had broken down when she'd told her young daughter the truth, finally succumbing to the tears she had been trying desperately to withhold for the last few days. Sarah's eyes searched her brother's face. He looked nothing like their mother except for his eyes. She envied him those stunning green eyes. It was the one thing she wished she had. Her eyes were a plain muddy brown; her hair a normal, average brown and pin straight. She had always thought that her mother's eyes were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Seeing them on her brother only seemed to confirm that thought. Her eyes traveled to the strange scar on his forehead. It was in the shape of a lightening bolt, and seemed to be slightly red. Her eyes wandered back to his of their own accord, only to find that he was watching her just as intently as she was watching him.

She stiffened slightly, worried that he might get angry about her studying him, but after watching her for a moment his eyes turned to the person beside her- their mother. She watched as a hungry and wistful look crossed his face, confusion hurt and anger present in his eyes for all to see. She felt her mother slightly tense beside her, and decided that she was going to do what she knew her mother wanted to; she was going to find out about her brother- what his life had been like, what kind of person he was. But she was not going to try to approach him about it.

Even to Sarah's ten year old mind, approaching her brother about this would not be a good idea for a while. Her eyes finally left her brother's face, turning to the man sitting next to him. Her mother had told her about him last night, too. She had said that she had gone to a school of magic- called Hogwarts- with this man, Sirius Black. He also happened to be her brother's godfather. Her mother had told her that Sirius and her brother's father, James, had been very close friends. This was the man she was going to approach to learn about her brother. After all, who better to approach to learn about her big brother than the man he seemed closest to?

In Grimmauld place, tension was thick in the air as well. Ginny and Ron kept shooting their father dirty looks behind their mother's back. After having had yet another practically sleepless night, Arthur finally snapped.

"Will you two stop that! I know you're both angry that I won't tell you anything more, but I just can't!" Arthur's angry and frustrated voice echoed around the suddenly silent kitchen. The twins- who had noticed the tension between their father younger siblings days ago- shared a look and got up from their places at the table. They grabbed one sibling each, frog-marching them out of the room, telling them about their newest inventions for their joke shop, begging them for their help as human guinea pigs. When the voices of her children faded, Molly Weasley turned to her husband. For a moment, she thought about telling him off. It wasn't that she hadn't noticed what her youngest had been doing. Nor that she particularly approved of their actions. She simply understood. She shared their frustration with their father's refusal to provide any more information. She was worried for Hermione and Harry, who had basically been adopted by her. But she also knew her husband far too well after over thirty years of marriage. The look on his face, the plea in his eyes for her to understand the only time she'd confronted him about knowing more than he'd said in regards to the two young adults, was one she had very rarely seen. She knew what that look had meant- that although he hated it, he was unable to tell her any more. Sighing in resignation, she went and hugged her husband, assuring him that his children would eventually get over it.

Upstairs, Ron and Ginny were fuming- Ginny silently, Ron quite loudly. The twins listened as Ron ranted and raved about how it was unfair for them to be being kept in the dark about their friends like this.

"He's our father! He's supposed to be on our side! But he's keeping things about Harry and 'Mione secret, for no bloody reason!"

Fred decided to cut his brother off right there.

"Oi! Don't you think Forge and I feel the same way! Harry and Hermione are our friends too, you know!"

George decided to jump in too.

"Yeah, Gred! And Ronnikins, we know he's our dad, but that doesn't mean he's got to tell us everything!" he watched as his little brother turned red, seemingly ready to explode, when Ginny's quiet voice sounded.

"I don't think he's even told Mum."

That quiet statement was enough to quell the argument. For now.

Back at Snape manor, breakfast had finally finished. Hermione headed off to the public library, Harry was going for a fly with Remus, and the Grangers were going to watch the flying with Lilly. This left Sirius and Sarah alone. Which was exactly what the young girl wanted. She had thought about how to approach the man all through breakfast, and had finally decided that being straight-forward would be best. So taking a deep breath to steady a sudden and unexpected bout of nerves, Sarah walked over to him and blurted out "Mum told me everything last night, and I want to know about my brother."

Silence. Complete and utter silence met her query, as Sirius tried to kick his brain back into gear. He had known that he would eventually have to tell _someone _about his godson's misadventures at Hogwarts, but he had expected that someone to be Lilly, not this small girl. He looked at her, noting the posture- arms folded, foot tapping in a show of impatience, and the determined look in her eyes- and his mouth decided to move without his brain filtering his words.

"You look just like your mother when you do that."

He mentally slapped himself for saying it, while trying to find a reason why he shouldn't be the one to tell her about her older brother. He chanced another look at the young girl's eyes, and seeing the determined look still present in them, knew he was doomed. So he took a deep breath and plunged head-first into the second uncomfortable conversation he'd had in the last twenty-four hours.

Outside, Lilly and the Grangers (minus their daughter) were watching Harry and Remus fly around on broomsticks that William had pulled out for them. The Grangers were in awe of what magic could do- "Imagine that! Flying without being in a plane!" "You don't have to imagine it, Richard. It's happening right in front of you."- and Lilly was watching her son in absolute terror and awe as he sped through the sky at startling speed. Remus landed next to her, just as Harry pulled into a rather steep dive. Lilly shot up off the ground, intent on racing to where her son was sure to meet the ground, when Remus' arms wrapped around her.

"Let me go Remus, he's going to crash!"

"Just watch, Lilly. Just watch."

So watch she did. She watched as just feet from the ground, her son got a look of absolute concentration on his face. He suddenly shifted on the broom, his entire weight seeming to shift to the back, and the broom finally leveled out, parallel to the ground. His sudden change in speed and direction causing him to let out a joy-filled whoop, his face lighting up with excitement. Lilly sagged into her friend's arms.

"Amazing, isn't he?" he asked her, his soft breath tickling her ear.

"Just like his father, always trying to give me a heart attack." she replied just as softly. At the mention of his old friend, Remus stiffened and let go of her. Without another word, he turned and strode inside, a hurt look on his face. Lilly watched him go, remorse in her eyes, before turning back to watch her son fly.

Beyond the veil, Genni and Severus reached the founders. When each of them had introduced themselves to her- Helga having hugged the stuffing out of her just as she'd thought, and Salazar having made her blush quite profusely when he'd kissed her hand- Severus turned to Slytherin. "I do believe my daughter has a question or two for you, Salazar." He looked on in amusement as his daughter- already flustered from this entire experience- became even more so when the man in question turned his attention to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I... I, um.." Genni stuttered, trying to figure out which of her two most burning questions to ask first.

"Just spit it out, girl. I'm sure old Sal here will get the gist of it!" Gryffindor boomed at her, in an attempt to help her over her nerves. It didn't.

"I don't know why I'm in your house!" she blurted, almost immediately regretting it.

Severus sighed and ran one hand down his face. He thought she had gotten over this after his and Dumbledore's talk with her. Obviously not. Thankfully, Slytherin answered her for him. Perhaps she would listen to the man himself about why she was in his house.

"Dear lady," he began, his voice as smooth, cultured and musical as it had been earlier. "You are in my house for the same reason as everyone else who is there- you possess the qualities I admired the most, the qualities I looked for in my students when I was still alive. I have watched for over nine hundred years as students passed through my house, and until now _not one_ of them would I have picked to tutor myself if I were still alive. You, my dear, are the one who has changed that. _You_ I would tutor in a heartbeat."

"Me? Why me?" she asked, her voice barely even a whisper.

"Because you are the epitome of what my house is supposed to be! You are smart and cunning. You think well on your feet. You use everything at your disposal to achieve your desires. You are planning on outsmarting that conniving old coot who calls himself the leader of the light, _AND _I'm certain you will succeed in doing just that. _THAT _my dear is why you are in my house, and why I would tutor you in a heartbeat."

"Simply put, you are a Slytherin, dear." Helga added, a small smile on her face. Smiling and nodding slightly, she decided to ask the other burning question she had. The _big_ question.

"Why did you hate muggle-borns?"

Slytherin looked outraged.

"_Hate _them? I didn't _hate _them! I was worried about their families! At the time, witches and wizards were being persecuted by the muggles. _I _simply feared that with their families knowing the identity of so many of us, we were in danger. _That _is why I didn't want muggle-borns in the school."

Severus knew that it would take quite a while for his daughter to absorb this revelation properly, but he also knew that they didn't have much time left.

"I hate to change the subject, but we really must tell her what she came here to find out."

The founders looked at him, nodding as they did, then turned their attention back to Genni. She looked at her father, nodding her consent to the change of subject and settled in for what she was sure was going to be a long conversation. She was right. Severus and the founders took turns telling her- what she needed to know needed to pass on to the others back at Snape manor- with one of them occasionally interrupting another to clarify one point or another.

"Long ago, in the time of Merlin himself, a great seer lived. This seer- no one is sure whether they were male or female- made a prophesy about a dark lord who would try to wipe out muggle-borns and make the muggles slaves. In doing this, he would wipe out all witches and wizards. If he succeeded, magic would never again be wielded by a human. But as with all prophesies, they said there was a way to stop this dark lord. We do not know what this way is, but around thirty-five years ago a dark lord rose who fit the role of the dark lord in this prophesy- Lord Voldemort. Sixteen years ago, Albus Dumbledore heard this ancient prophesy, and made a seer- Sybil Trelawney- go into a trance and speak a prophesy about a chosen one- a boy who would have the power to defeat Lord Voldemort- and as is the way with these things, a follower of Voldemort's overheard part of this prophesy and ran to his master, who then hunted down and tried to kill your brother, believing him to be the one of whom the prophesy spoke. (At this point, Severus admitted that he had been the servant.) This prophesy however was a fake. The entire thing had been a set up by Albus Dumbledore, in the hopes that the real way to stop the dark lord would be safe. When Lilly Potter survived, it created a problem for Dumbledore. You already know how he dealt with that. We do not know how to stop Voldemort- we have not the knowledge of what is contained within the ancient prophesy, only Dumbledore knows that- but we do know that you, Hermione and Harry are central to it. Why else would Dumbledore have kept you three from the knowledge of you being siblings? Why else would he have kept your mother from you for so long? We also know that the three of you have extraordinary, untapped powers."

As the story finished, Genni thought of something that had been niggling her.

"Father, how exactly did you find out I was your daughter? Even Dumbledore didn't know who my father was." She looked at him, not sure what to expect. He smiled at her.

"Goblins." At her raised eyebrow, silently asking him to explain, he elaborated. "Dumbledore's magic cannot override the blood magic that the Gringotts goblins use. Before the start of your sixth year- during the holidays- I went to Gringotts to get a full account of what was inherently mine in order to update my will to include everything. In order to do this, I had to place some of my blood onto a parchment which shows a person's family tree. Imagine my surprise when _your _name came up on the parchment, in the spot for my children. That is how I found out about you. You already know why I didn't come to you and tell you." he finished with a slight smile. She smiled back, and made a mental note to go see the goblins before she returned to school. She would have to owl them.

Her face turned towards panic as she felt something pulling her backwards. Her eyes found her father's, even as she registered the founders farewelling her. As her conscious mind was pulled back to her aching body, she heard her father's voice come to her. "Farewell my darling daughter, we will see each other again. I am proud of you, always." Then everything went black.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: I know it's been over a week but I've been having issues uploading. As always, enjoy!  
**

**Chapter 24: Know**

Genni awoke slowly, the sound of many voices making her head spin. Most of them seemed unaware that she was coming to, which suited her just fine; she was still trying to sort through the sheer amount of information she had been given by the founders and her father. Still trying to figure out how to give this information to the people around her, preferably without sounding crazy; and who she should give it to. It seemed that she needed someone whom she could trust completely, someone who wouldn't dismiss what had happened to her as just a dream; that counted out all the adults and Granger. Probably Potter, too. Which left very few people in whom she could confide completely. She had a brief thought of approaching Professor Trelawney when school started again, dismissing it as soon as it had been acknowledged. That woman was a fraud anyway; her chat with the odd quintet had proved that.

Despite her best efforts, a slight moan left her lips, alerting the others in the room to her now conscious state; she could only hope that the seeming lack of animosity in the room's atmosphere meant that the Malfoys had decided not to come in her absence. They already knew she'd be out for a while, since Draco had been here when she'd collapsed. As the other occupants of the room surrounded her, she took stock of her injuries and found... none? Surely she had hit the floor?

"No you didn't. Mr Malfoy caught you before you could." the rough but soft-spoken voice of Professor Lupin sounded in her ears. She hadn't realised she'd spoken.

"Ugh, I feel terrible." her voice sounded off, even to her own ears.

"How terrible?" it took her a moment to realise that this had come from William.

"Like I just got hit by the fully loaded Hogwart's Express."

She sat up and very cautiously opened her eyes, surprised to find that the light didn't hurt them as much as she'd expected. The room seemed to spin for a moment before her equilibrium righted itself. She was surrounded by the anxious and worried faces of all her guests, and felt the need to reassure them that she was perfectly fine. She couldn't ease their worries though; she was far from fine and she'd never been good at lying. She gave herself a moment to gather her thoughts and to allow the room to stop spinning.

"How long was I out?"

She looked at the many still anxious faces in the room, noting that William had left. When none of them answered her, she raised an eyebrow. The tension in the room became almost palpable, until her answer came from a completely unexpected source.

"I think it's been around twenty-four hours, but I can't be sure. You were already out cold when I came in here last night." Sarah's soft voice carried across the tensely silent room. Genni's eyes found the young girl- _her sister- _in the background of the rather large group. It seemed as though there was a fire in her eyes, a knowledge that she hadn't had before making her more at ease. With her natural legillimency skills she had caught a single thought at the front of Sarah's mind when she had seen the fire in her eyes. _I know. I know about magic and about you, sister._

She was slightly thankful that her recent unconscious state gave her a reason to be slow in responding. Sarah knew, and it was only a matter of time before she would try to get to know her better. Genni was still trying to come to terms with everything herself, and was having trouble thinking of the girl as anything other than a guest in her house. And yet Sarah-who had only just found out about the existence of magic as well- was quite easily referring to her as sister in her mind. She had intended to verbally thank the girl- _your sister!- _both physically and verbally, and whilst her body had co-operated, her mouth had not. While her head nodded in thanks, her mouth- instead of thank you- had said "So that's why we didn't have much time."

"Why who didn't have much time?" Moody's gruff voice sounded, and Genni startled. Whilst she had been thinking that, she hadn't realised that she'd said it out loud, and neither had she realised that the ex-auror was in the room. She opened her mouth to reply, hoping against hope that she could somehow deal with the question without giving anything away when she was saved from answering by William's return. She hadn't even seen him leave.

"Here, drink these." He was holding out two vials, that were obviously filled with potions. Not being her father's daughter for nothing, Genni identified the contents of the first vial on sight alone; Pepper-up Potion was easily identified from the amount of times she'd taken it during the school year around exam time. She hastily downed the potion, it's effects being almost instantaneous. She felt awake and aware, though Sarah's quiet comment that 'with the steam coming out of her ears under her red hair she looked like her head was on fire', did earn a round of quiet chuckles from the others in the room. Genni examined the second vial closely.

At first glance, the potion had been similar to a calming draught, however it was completely lacking in the calming draught's unique pearlescent sheen. After smelling the potion, she was even more confused. It smelt- in a word- delicious. No potion she'd ever come across had a smell that was so appealing. She turned her head to William, raising an eyebrow in question. Chuckling slightly, her gave her the answer she was seeking.

"A potion of your father's invention, Miss Genni. It will help with the general aches and pains."

She downed the potion- which tasted as good as it smelled- and felt instant relief. Her gentle sigh echoed through the room, along with a statement that caused the tension in the room to once more become palpable. "My father was a genius."

Along with the escalation of tension, came the now rather familiar sight of Harry Potter leaving the room looking like a storm was brewing on his face. His godfather looking around the room almost apologetically before rushing after the young man. She sighed once more, this one full of frustrated resignation, and shook her head slowly and sadly.

In the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts a most incredible scene was unfolding before the eyes of several portraits and one solitary phoenix. Albus Dumbledore was furiously destroying the normally tranquil mood of the place. With single minded intensity he was slowly and deliberately blasting to pieces anything that could be either repaired or replaced. Put quite simply the man was as mad as a hatter. He had just returned from a meeting with the Goblins of Gringotts, and was muttering under his breath about their "ridiculous privacy laws" and "utter disregard for his position". In a hidden alcove; one that hadn't been noticed since the time of Phinius Black's reign as Headmaster, a group of portraits watched the destruction with detached amusement. One in particular was finding it rather difficult to hold back a grin at the man's dissatisfaction with the Goblin's lack of information. With one last look at the flustered man, Severus Snape left his hidden portrait, headed for the library. He always did enjoy a good book.

Due to his departure, Severus' portrait didn't know what happened when Dumbledore had calmed himself. He conjured a patronus with a message for Mad-Eye Moody to come see him as soon as possible, returned his office to rights and sat with a cup of tea, beginning to plot ways to use his long-time friend to get the information he sought. The phoenix, Fawkes knowing what his human was planning, flamed out with an indignant squawk and hoped that his human wasn't too blind to realise what his absence meant. His human had dome a lot of questionable things in his time, but now he was going too far. In trying to do everything 'for the greater good' he was loosing sight of the values that the the greater good stood for.

At Grimmauld Place, two red heads were having a conversation about recent happenings. The two in question were trying to figure out exactly what was going on with their father; who was keeping secrets, and their two younger siblings; who had often been seen with their heads together whispering furiously. These two were known as the tricksters of the family, so no-one thought it strange that they had their heads together, whispering and plotting. What none of the others seemed to realise was that their conversation was a lot more serious than how to prank their stuck up prat of a brother Percy. No, this time they were trying to figure out how best to approach their father, without putting even more stress on his shoulders than their younger siblings already were. Contrary to popular belief, they were intelligent in more than just subjects related to pranking and jokes. They had already used their combined intellect to deduce that whatever their father was keeping secret involved Harry and Hermione, and that this was being kept from Dumbledore. They also knew that Mooney and Moody were involved in some way, since the former hadn't been seen at headquarters since the day that Harry, Hermione and Sirius had left, and the latter would shoot their father warning glances full of unknown retribution every time their younger siblings were in the room while he was there. The strange thing was that while these two definitely wanted to know what was going on, they also knew that they weren't likely to be told, or at least not told for a while yet. So their whispered conversation was more along the lines of how to let their father know what they had figured out, whilst still letting him know they didn't need to know any more at this time. After a while they decided that the direct approach was best, so they cornered their father after dinner, dragging him into the study and warding it for privacy to the nines.

"We know." both boys said, causing their father to startle visibly.

"Boys," Arthur Weasley sighed, looking at the rather serious faces of his normally non-serious twin sons, Fred and George. He had been expecting this for quite a while.

"Wait Dad," Fred began.

" Before you start telling us," George continued.

"The same things"

"You tell Gin-Gin and Ronnikins"

"We want you to know"

"That we don't need to know"

"Any more than we've"

"Already figured out"

"Yet." they finished together, understanding smiles in place of the normally devious ones they usually sported after one of their tennis-like conversations. Arthur, having grown quite used to them speaking like this simply took in their words and relaxed slightly, gesturing with his hand for them to continue with what they wanted to say. Instead of continuing on in their previous vein, the twins looked at one another having a silent conversation, before Fred gestured for George to go ahead. George, to let his father know how serious they were, looked directly and unwaveringly into his father's eyes before speaking.

"We know that you, Mooney, Moody and probably Sirius are involved in keeping a secret involving Harry and Hermione from Dumbledore. We also know that it's something really big, since you haven't told Mum, and that Gin and Ron keep pestering you about what you know. We know from the looks that Mad-Eye's been giving you that you're not supposed to tell us anything. We're fine with that. Although we do what you to know that if it ever came down to a choice between Dumbledore or Harry and Hermione, Dumbledore doesn't stand a chance. Not when it comes to us. There's only two things we'd like to know; one, how are Harry and Hermione? Not where are they, not what's happened to them, _how _are they? And two, what can we do to help you with Gin and Ron?"

Arthur Weasley studied his twin sons for a moment. He was quite surprised by how mature they were being, and how right they were about what was going on. He'd never really had to think of these two as anything more than troublemakers and pranksters before, but now that he thought about it, the amount of work that must have gone into their products for their joke store was quite extensive and yes, intelligent. Even Hermione had commented to him a couple of time about how ingenious some of their inventions were, (well out of the twins earshot, of course) which meant quite a bit coming from the genius young woman. He knew from looking at his boys that they weren't going to let him out of here without some kind of answer, so he decided to answer the easier question first. While he spoke, he thought about how to answer the harder question without lying.

"Well for how you can help with Ginny and Ron, just try to keep them busy and distracted from me. I don't really want to lie to any of you, but I just can't tell you anything more. As to the other, I'll have to speak to Mad-Eye, but I don't think it should be a problem finding out _how_ they are, and letting you know. Might help keep Ron and Ginny off my back for a while." He eyed his children as they thought over his response to their questions, expecting them to demand a better answer. He was surprised therefor, when they simply nodded sharply once each in both agreement and understanding before undoing the warding and leaving the room. He heard them a moment later gathering their younger siblings for games of chess and exploding snap.

Later that night, when he thought back over the strange but pleasant conversation, he'd jerk upright with the realization that they'd told him in no uncertain terms that they would be on Hermione and Harry's side against Dumbledore, if circumstances ever called for it. In that moment, Arthur Weasley would make his decision regarding his inner turmoil over Dumbledore's actions; he could not, no _would_ _not_ go against his family.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Okay guys, a little shorter than usual and a little later than I wanted (I've just started a new course) but it's finally done. Enjoy.  
**

**Chapter 25: Call Me Genni**

The morning after Genni had awoken from her unconscious state, everyone was present at breakfast. Genni had spent the night thinking over her problem of who to tell her revelations to and how to tell them without sounding crazy. She had finally decided to tell Moody in the early hours of the morning, only to find that the man had been called to a meeting with Dumbledore shortly after she had escaped to her room. She did not hold any worry for the man in question; he was more than capable of dealing with the meddlesome 'leader of the light'. She would just have to wait for his return to tell him. So her mind had gone on to sort through the more (to her mind) mundane problems that she was currently facing. Problems which seemed to all revolve around her newly found (_or was that rediscovered?_) family. She decided to make a palpable list, instead of the internal ones she would normally use to help her sort out her thoughts and priorities, so summoning some parchment and a quill she headed down to the study to start.

As the first rays of the sun shone through the window she looked down at her now completed list and smiled. Now she just had to find a way to bring this up without any of her guests trying to tear her limb from limb. Especially her rather unpredictable and temperamental brother. Deciding to bring it up towards the end of breakfast when everyone should be more agreeable, she read through her list one last time.

_Occlumency and Legillimency- Must ask Hermione if she's found any worthwhile books since she's the one who has (more than likely) spent the most time in the public library. If not, check father's private library._

_Convince everyone to learn both ASAP_

_Defense Training- Also probably ask Hermione (and Harry) to help_

_Prepare For School- will all need extra time this year for plotting, so ensure everyone is at least finished a read through of all pertinent text books for the coming year. Also make sure all summer assignments are finished._

_Outline A Plan Of Action For The Coming Year- with everyone. In more detail. Must consult with Moody._

_Get To Know Family- I personally want to start with Sarah. She seems the most approachable. _

_Get Hermione And Harry Used To Me Being Slytherin- none of us will like it, but I don't need Harry trying to hex me every time I call her names. Or him names. Or them both names._

_Cultivate My New 'Slytherin' Identity More So It Becomes Second Nature- will have to get Malfoy to help me with this one. Preferably without telling him the real reason why._

_Figure Out How/When/Where To Confront Dumbles- must happen sometime this year._

Satisfied with her list, she headed off to the dining room to help herself to some much deserved caffeine. Unfortunately when she got there, the one man who seemed to get under her skin was there also. Once again lounging haphazardly against the side board was Sirius Black, a cup of coffee in his hands. He eyed her with clearly tired eyes as she entered and began making herself a cup of coffee, his eyes watching her every move. When she finished and was just about to tell him off for staring, he raised his cup in a light salute and walked away. What shocked her the most about his actions was that there was no smirk accompanying the salute. It seemed like it was genuine, when she had been prepared for him to be mocking. The fact that he was being genuine unbalanced her.

Since his first night in her home and that ugly nick name for her father, she was certain that he'd be nothing but mocking and vindictive towards her. She knew, as did everyone at Hogwarts, that her father and the boys who had surrounded James Potter had essentially been childhood enemies from their time at the magical school, and that their rivalry had continued through to adulthood instead of having been left in the schoolyard where it belonged. Sirius Black as one of aforementioned group would therefor hate her father. That dislike had clearly been passed on from James to Harry by her father; why should the same not be said of father to daughter by Black? She hated to admit it, but it seemed as though ever since she had subtly called him out on his behavior, he was determined to be the bigger man in the situation and not make the same mistakes with her that her father had made with Harry. She found herself re-evaluating her opinion of the man, and she wasn't sure if she was at all comfortable with the idea.

Over the course of the next hour or so, everyone slowly trickled into the room in twos and threes until finally everyone was seated around the table. Genni was watching everyone intently, waiting for the right moment to speak, and when Mad-Eye finally slipped in through the doors towards the end of the informal meal she decided the time was right. She stood, clearing her throat and gathering everyone's attention as she did so. Not used to being the center of attention, she had to take a deep breath to overcome a sudden case of nerves before continuing. She picked up the parchment which she had left beside her almost untouched plate. It shook with her hand as her nerves started to get the better of her.

Sirius thought back to the conversation he'd had with his godson about her, and noticing the nerves, decided to help her with whatever she was doing. He quickly strode around to her side and gestured to the parchment she was holding. Giving him a slight but relieved smile, she handed it over and he read through it. His eyebrows raised in surprise at a couple of the items of the list, but he didn't comment, for which she was grateful. He took out his wand and waved it, creating edited copies for everyone before waving it once again to distribute them. Once everyone had their own copy of the list, he sat down in the seat next to hers and motioned for her to take over. Once they'd all looked back up from their lists, she started to speak.

"After reading the list, I guess you already get the overall point of all this, so I guess I'll go into each item then. He-Hermione, have you found any occlumency or legillimency books in the library?" The girl in question looked up, slightly startled by the use of her first name before she shook herself and replied.

"Yes Ge-Genevieve I have. The ones that are there are mostly for beginners, so they should be perfect for what you want." Genni had startled slightly at the unfamiliar use of her full first name, and decided that she may as well deal with another item on her list while she was at it. She hated her name.

"Please call me Genni, Hermione, and what about the defense side of things? I thought that you and H-Harry might be the best. I still remember that little club you set up in fifth year." she said with a smile. She sincerely hoped the girl- _'your sister' _her inner voice insisted on reminding her- would take her up on the offer to use her nick name. It would go a long way towards getting to know at least one member of her family. She noticed that at the mention of the defense club Hermione had blushed a little. Genni decided that it was one part embarrassment, one part guilt, one part pride. Hopefully the girl had taken her smile as it was meant- a reassurance that she wasn't trying to have a go at her. She may not have personally been involved in the Inquisitorial Squad that had caused so many dramas that year, but she was still a Slytherin. Since the I.S. Was made up mostly of her house mates, she knew that people thought that she was all for their kind of 'discipline'. She wasn't.

"Thanks, Genni. Um, sure we could help with that, but I think that might be more Professor Lupin's area of expertise. He was one of our defense teachers after all." She smiled slightly as she said it, at both Genni and Lupin, causing both to smile back. Before Genni could move on, she started to speak once more. "About the occlumency, I've been reading through those books I told you about. We can definitely do the basics on our own, but we need someone who's skilled in legillimency to test our skills, and I don't think there's anyone here who is."

Both girls looked around the table. The only one who was making any noise was Harry, who was muttering under his breath about occlumency and her father. Everyone else looked either sheepish or apologetic. The Grangers simply looked confused. Genni sighed, knowing that she would have been found out sooner or later, but she would have preferred later.

"I have some natural Legillimency skills."

"Natural?" the question came from Lupin, who was staring at her with undisguised interest. "I've heard of natural Occlumens, but a natural Legillimens?" He seemed fascinated and slightly repulsed with the idea. Or perhaps he was repulsed by how he was imagining she'd found out.

"Yes, natural Legillimens. I realised when I read about Occlumency and Legillimency last year in the library at school. I've always had these thoughts when I looked into peoples' eyes that I knew weren't mine. Having grown up muggle, I assumed it was a natural extension of magic that everyone had, until I read about it. I haven't trained myself so I can't get any more than surface thoughts, and I doubt I'd be any match for even an intermediate Occlumens, but I could test your initial occlumency barriers right now. Any more than that, I'd have to train myself for." Everyone stared at her; some with shock, others with curiosity. Harry, always the exception, simply glared and muttered something about her being "just like bloody Snape", which she chose to ignore.

After a few minutes of discussion about the list, and delegation of tasks, all the guests other than Moody headed off to the library to begin to research or finish off assignments. Genni and Moody stared at one another for a moment before he simply said "Privacy?" She nodded and took him to the study for a discussion that the ex-auror was never likely to forget.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: a special thanks and shout out to those who reviewed;  
**

harlequin320

Gingerstorm101

**As always, enjoy. Please review, as it helps me to improve. Tao.  
**

**Chapter 26: Tension**

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was suspicious by nature, so Genni's admission of natural Legillimency skills had put him on edge. He knew that nobody really liked him but they all respected him; which made it much easier to get his point across, when trust would have sufficed for anyone else. Genni had neither of these, and Moody had known that was going to make her self appointed job much harder. Now it would be almost impossible. He eyed the study, as though expecting an enemy to jump out from behind the various pieces of functional furniture, his gaze finally settling on Genni as she took to her favorite seat by the window.

Genni was nervous; this was going to be hard to explain to anyone, but to explain it to Moody was going to be even harder. The man was the most logical person she'd ever heard of, so to tell him that she had been behind the veil and everything that had happened while she was there was a task that seemed to be next to impossible. She decided that simply being straight forward was the best possible approach, so she braced herself with a deep breath and looked up at Moody. Ensuring that she maintained eye contact, she jumped in head first.

"While I was unconscious, I went behind the veil."

If this statement had shocked him, no sign showed on his face. He continued to stare at her, as though waiting for the rest of her explanation, so she continued.

"While there, I spoke with my father and the founders. They said..." at this point, her emotions started to get the better of her, so she took a moment to compose herself once more before continuing. "They said that there were two prophesies; one real, one fake about Voldemort. The real one is only known by Albus Dumbledore. I need your help to formulate a plan of action for this year. I need to know the best way to get the information about this prophesy from him. I need..." she swallowed heavily. "I need to not be alone in this." At some point during her speech her eyes had drifted downwards. She looked back up at the ex auror, doubt written all over her young face.

For his part, Alastor was stunned. He had no doubt that she was being sincere; no one spoke of going beyond the veil lightly. He also had no questions about who the founders were, as there were only four people referred to in that way. He was astounded at the fact that there were two prophesies, and that Dumbledore had kept the contents of the true one secret. He also registered the fact that he had started to refer to his old friend by his last name- a habit which he usually reserved only for those whom he didn't trust.

He studied the young woman before him. She was quite capable of doing this on her own, but right now she was unsure of herself. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Genni, who had begun to nervously fidget. Deciding to put her out of her misery, he stomped over to a straight backed chair across from her window seat. Conjuring a piece of parchment and quill, he began writing. "I believe you, now lets get to planning missy." Genni smiled in relief.

Unfortunately, you can't have that large a group of people in a confined space for long before everyone starts to get on one another's nerves. Tension had been slowly mounting in the house all morning, and so it was inevitable that someone would snap. That someone just happened to be Lilly. She had been watching her old friend Sirius' interaction with her eldest daughter during breakfast, and had her suspicions that he might have taken a fancy to the young woman. This coupled with both the stress she had been feeling already, and the fact that Remus had been studiously avoiding her attempts to reconnect with him since the flying incident meant it was only a matter of time before something put her over the edge and her notorious temper would surface. The incident that made her snap was relatively small in comparison to her blow up, but that didn't seem to bother her one bit.

With the children needing to finish off their assignments and preparations for the coming school year, it was decided that all the adults- including the Grangers- would begin to research for their extra training. Lilly had spent most of the time practically in solitude; it seemed that everyone was either busy with their own tasks, or in the case of Remus trying to avoid being anywhere near her. After closing yet another useless book about practical defense (_Practical my rear end!_) she decided to switch topics for a while, in order to help her concentration. She stretched as she stood, her t-shirt riding up slightly to reveal her toned stomach. Remus, who had been watching her from his spot across the room, groaned. Shaking his head of the numerous inappropriate thoughts he was suddenly having about his old friend, he decided to hide amongst the bookshelves in the mind arts section of the library.

When he got there, he was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he failed to notice Lilly arrive and reach for the same book he had decided to study. Their hands touched, sparks of electricity and desire charging the air around them. He turned to see who had caused such a strong reaction in him, and seeing Lilly, literally jumped as far back from her as he could. Lilly, who was hurt by the actions of her old friend, finally lost the tentative hold she had on her temper.

"That's it! This is ridiculous!" her voice echoed through the previously silent library, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Remus, having been on the receiving end of her temper before began to slowly back up. There was no mistaking the frustrated tone in her voice- he'd heard it too many times at Hogwarts, usually when James had done something incredibly stupid to get her attention. This would not end well. Lilly, quickly working herself into a righteous rage began to advance on him.

"I don't know where you get off behaving as though I've got dragon pox, _Remus John Lupin_, but I swear if it doesn't stop right this minute, you'll wish I did have it!"

"L-Lilly?"

"Don't you even try to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! You've been avoiding me like I have the plague since yesterday, and just now you jumped, _literally _jumped away from me when our hands touched!" she was truly furious now, and Remus was backed up against the wall, with no means of escape. In his fear, he seemed to have forgotten that while he had a wand, Lilly did not. Her eyes flashed triumphantly for a moment when she saw that he could back away no further.

"Now, I want an explanation. Right. This. Minute! Or does all those years we were friends at Hogwarts and after not mean as much to you as it does to me?" at this point, furious tears began to gather in her eyes.

"No! Lilly, of course it means something! I-I-I just..."

"You just what?" she snapped, poking him in the chest with each word. Remus looked into her furious, tear-filled eyes, and the control he had been trying to maintain finally snapped. With a speed only capable of being achieved by being a werewolf, he grabbed her wrists and spun her, pinning her to the wall. He placed his hands either side of her head, and looked directly into her eyes. Lilly gasped at his movements, and the intense mix of emotions she could see on his face. Tension, so thick you could barely breathe, filled the air around them. Lilly nervously licked her lips, and at the sight a low moan found its way into Remus' throat. His eyes, more amber than normal, flicked back and forth from her eyes to her lips. An internal battle, practically already won by base instincts continued on in the background of his mind, his human conscience battling with wolf desires.

Remus began to lower his head to hers when reality came crashing back to them, in the form of Sirius, chuckling at the pairs predicament. Fury once again filled emerald-green eyes, and she took the opportunity afforded to her by Remus' embarrassment to push past him. She stormed over to the chair that Sirius was lounging in, and began poking him in the chest with every furious word she spoke.

"And what do you think you're laughing at, mutt?" Her words stunned him, and for the first time, Harry Potter was able to witness his godfather lost for words.

"Don't think I don't know what you were up to this morning!" a growl sounded low in her throat. "And don't think that I'll just stand by while it happens, either." Harry, unable to help himself, began to laugh. She spun on her heel, facing him. "And YOU! What do you think you're laughing at, young man? Do you think you'll get away with it when he doesn't? Hmm? Well, you've got another thing coming! You are going to stop avoiding me, and start to get to know both myself and your little sister, starting today!" and with that, she stormed from the room. Harry simply looked at his godfather, who was still gaping, then turned to Hermione and said "Now I know where you get it from."

"Get what, Harry?"

"I agree with Ron," he said, smiling. "Brilliant, but scary."

The only sign that she'd even heard him was the comical dropping of her jaw. Harry burst into laughter once more.

Snape Manor wasn't the only place where tensions were beginning to mount. At Grimmauld Place, Arthur Weasley was beginning to think that Merlin himself was against him. His two youngest children seemed to be everywhere he went, and although his wife and his twin sons were trying to run interference it only seemed to be making things worse. Perhaps the worst part of this though, was the fact that they weren't being overt about their desire to know what was going on; it seemed that for the first time in their lives, Ron and Ginny had learnt the art of subtlety, and they were using it to perfection in the furthering of their cause. It was driving Arthur mad.

He sighed and headed towards the kitchen, knowing that his wife would run interference for him for as long as possible. It was barely midday, and he had already run into the troublesome duo (for once not a reference to the twins) at least a half a dozen times. They seemed to be everywhere at once; no matter where he went in the house to escape one, the other would already be waiting for him, or would appear soon after. They wouldn't even ask him any questions, they would simply stare at him, as though willing him to feel guilty about his lack of information providing. They may have lacked tact, and their subtlety certainly wasn't in the same class as the adults, but for the most part it was working. They were slowly wearing him down, and it was only a matter of time before he cracked.

As he entered the dingy kitchen, his wife handed him the perfunctory cup of coffee and he sat down, an almost wistful sigh of relief leaving his lips. His relief was to be short lived though. Within moments of him taking the first sip of his beverage, his youngest son entered the kitchen. Giving his father a wide berth and a meaningful look, he sidled over to his mother and asked what was for lunch. Arthur Weasley gritted his teeth and willed his temper down, and his lips to stay closed. He had already told them off once, he wasn't about to lose his temper again. Ron took a sandwich from his mother and sat at the table, directly across from his father. Giving him another loaded look, he began to eat. Arthur gritted his teeth tighter, and a muscle in his jaw began to tic ominously. No, he would not lose his temper. Not yet.


End file.
